Saskia van Eilenburh, the youngest daughter of a wealthy family, could live a very ordinary life, and today, after almost four centuries, no one would remember her name. So it would be, did not meet Saskia Rembrandt van Rijn. Today, her many images are known to every admirer of painting. From this article you can find out the biography of the artist’s wife and see the most famous portraits of Saskia painted by Rembrandt.
Early biography
Saskia van Eilenburh was born on August 2, 1612 in Leeuwarden (Netherlands), in the family of the mayor, lawyer and well-to-do townsman Rombertus van Eilenburh. She was the youngest of the four daughters of Eilenburh, and the family also had four more sons. The mother of the family died of tuberculosis in 1619, when Saskia was only 7 years old. Five years later, his father died. All worries about the family fell on older children, in fact, in their youth, sisters and brothers replaced the girl's parents. A portrait of Rembrandt's future wife, Saskia, is presented below.
Meet Rembrandt
In 1633, the 21-year-old Saskia came to Amsterdam to stay with her cousin Althier van Eilenburh. Saskia's future husband - Rembrandt van Rijn - was immediately familiar with two of the girl's close friends: her cousin Hendrick, who lived there and engaged in the sale of paintings, and Althier's husband, preacher Johann Cornelis Silvius, whom van Rijn once depicted in engraving. The future spouses had already heard about each other personally, had a chance at home at Hendrick van Eilenburh - there Rembrandt rented a room at that time, and Saskia just came to visit her cousin.
Marriage and family life
On June 8, 1633, Rembrandt and Saskia became bride and groom, and a year later, on June 22, 1634, they got married. Below is a self-portrait of the artist, made in the year of marriage.
In 1639, the Van Rijn couple moved to their own home on Sint Antonisbrestrat Street in Amsterdam, which Rembrandt purchased on credit. At the beginning of her family life, Saskia gave birth to three children - the son of Rombert and two daughters, named Cornelius, but not one child did not live a month. Finally, in 1641, Titus van Rijn was born, who, like Saskia, became the hero of many of Rembrandt’s paintings. Below you can see a photo of the painting “Portrait of Titus’s son in a red beret”.
Death
Finally, the spouses had a house and a long-awaited child, however, Saskia's body, broken by her worries and severely endured by her last pregnancy, was finally broken by a tuberculosis infection caught up. She died from him on June 14, 1642, less than two months before reaching her thirtieth birthday. An interesting fact is one of the points of Saskia’s will, which said: “In the case of the re-marriage of the widower of Van Rijn, the enormous fortune of his deceased wife, bequeathed to his son Titus, is transferred to the disposal of one of the Van Eilenburch sisters.” Because of this, after 12 years, Rembrandt was unable to legitimize relations with his last lover Hendrikie Stoffels.
Sketches and sketches depicting Saskia
In addition to the large number of paintings by Rembrandt with Saskia depicted on them, his simple images of his wife, made in pencil, are of great interest to researchers of the life and work of the great artist.
He made them for a commemorative sketch or subsequent transfer to the canvas. Such are, for example, “Portrait of Saskia the Bride” (1633), “Saskia with a pearl in her hair” (1634), “Four sketches of Saskia” (1635), “Saskia in the image of St. Catherine” (1638).
Engraving "Self Portrait with Saskia"
The only family portrait of the Van Rijn couple is an engraving done by Rembrandt in 1636. The plot canvas "The Prodigal Son in the Tavern", which will be discussed later, is not taken into account, since it, nevertheless, is not related to the personal life of the artist and his wife.
This engraving, on the contrary, is an everyday perpetuation of the moment of their unity, created not for art, but for memory. The engraving image of Saskia and Rembrandt in the photo is presented above.
"The Prodigal Son in the Tavern"
This famous painting, also known as the "Portrait of Rembrandt with Saskia on her lap", was painted by the artist in 1635. As the plot for this canvas, he chose the biblical parable of the prodigal son. He portrayed himself as a son, who was parting in a tavern, and Saskia as a harlot. The rich outfits that Rembrandt put on his heroes correspond to the time modern for the artist, and not the biblical years. Therefore, the picture is not an illustration, but only conveys the meaning of the parable.
Interestingly, the original version of the canvas was larger, and, in addition to Saskia on Rembrandt's lap, other characters were present. However, after the death of his wife, the artist cut off the canvas on his own, leaving only himself and her in the picture.
"Portrait of Saskia in an Arcadian costume"
Most of the portraits of Saskia Rembrandt created in the first years of their family life. This incredibly tender work, depicting the artist’s wife in a mythical outfit of the inhabitants of Greek Arcadia, was completed in 1635, the second in their family life. In the portrait, Saskia smiles gently and absently looks to the side, with one hand she holds flowers, with the other - rests on a wooden staff, twined with a weaving plant.
Obviously, at the time of writing the picture, Saskia was in one of the last months of pregnancy. She could not even think that the baby would not live a month, and therefore her face is radiated with joyful expectation and tenderness.
"Minerva in his office"
In the same 1935, Rembrandt depicts Saskia in the image of Minerva, sitting in front of a large open book at a table in her office. The ancient Roman goddess of wisdom, science and inventions, Minerva was a fairly popular and beloved heroine of the plots of classic artists of the XVI-XVIII centuries. So Rembrandt decided to write a portrait of the goddess, with the face, of course, of his beautiful and wise wife.
The most common attribute of Minerva in painting and sculpture is the helmet of the Roman legionnaire, crowning her head and personifying her also as the goddess of war. However, Rembrandt in his painting decided to avoid this stamp and crowned his wife's head with a laurel wreath. Finishing work on the canvas, he nevertheless wrote a helmet, but placed it behind the back of the goddess, next to the spear and shield. Over a rich silk dress, similar in color to an Arcadian costume, a rich golden cloak, a symbol of Roman rulers, falls from the shoulders of Saskia-Minerva.
"Portrait of Saskia in a red hat"
Another famous portrait of Saskia Rembrandt painted in 1634, even before their marriage. The working name of the canvas sounded like "The bride of the artist in a red hat." In this picture, Saskia is still girlishly slim, her face is restrained and calm, and her posture hints at her willingness to change her status and go to meet adult life.
A rich red velvet dress and the same hat, a huge amount of jewelry, a fur cape - all this is demonstrated by the outfit of a rich Dutch woman. That is exactly what Saskia looked like in everyday life. Her outfits were distinguished by the high cost of materials and the magnificence of cut, and both hands were always hung with gold and silver bracelets.
