Rembrandt’s Family Group 1666-68 Oil on canvas, 126 x 167 Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig Pictures may be seen here; http://vanrijngo.bravejournal.com/entry/13977 It is very easy to be seen by some in this painting when pointed out to them. Let just say for instance, if your own pet monkey was to die in the exact same circumstances, and you were him, how would you place you dead monkey for his final portrait? Would you lay him on his belly face down or tie him from a rope hanging from the rafters,… No,…. you more than likely would have done exactly as Rembrandt did, lying his pet across some soft materials softly on his back in a way that he could paint him into this painting’s canvas to where it could be hidden, and at the same time, still be seen by himself. Now after saying this,… let us examine this fine work of art that was left partially un-finished.
The un-finished part is the head of the household who had jumped around this large canvas against Rembrandt’s rules to discover his own suspicions. He refused to accept the painting with the dead monkey painted onto the canvas, and Rembrandt proceeded in throwing their family out of his house. True story! Now if we look close, there is only the head of the head of the household. You might say that is one marvelous looking hand painted right under the nose of his oldest daughter. Do you think it is possible that Rembrandt might have been making a statement here? To locate this very close friend of the artist, one must use ones imagination, to comprehend what was just said and will be said,… to possibly be able to see Rembrandt’s dead Monkey he had painted into this painting of the “Family Group”. Are you ready Freddy? Just imagine two little monkey’s eyes still half opened gazing off into no where, with his little monkey arms and paws folded around the back of his neck for a pillow.
The Essay on Rembrandt Van Rijn
Rembrandt van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is known as one of the most influential painters of his time because of his original style of painting. Though he faced many tragedies in his life, he managed to create some of the most exquisite works of his era. He is known for incredible use of chiaroscuro in his works. His pieces also contain a subtle darkness that manages to captivate the ...
His body lays motionless as his little thin legs are draped over the lady of the family’s thigh. This not well known about hidden phenomenon just happens to be under the ladies hand and arm, in part of the little girls skirt, utilizing her shoe, and some of the ladies skirt. Can any of you see the monkey now? Monkey is outlined in yellow in a picture not provided. you can see them here; http://vanrijngo.bravejournal.com/entry/13977 I’ve found this story on the web about his monkey,..here it is below. One of his earliest biographers, Filippo Baldinucci, who based his writings on the testimony of one of Rembrandt’s pupils, wrote, “After it had become commonly known that whomever wanted to be portrayed by him had to sit to him for some two or three months, there were few who came forward.” Another early biographer, Arnold Houbraken, recounts how, when he was almost finished painting a portrait of a couple and their children, Rembrandt’s monkey (part of his increasing collection of curiosities) died, and he memorialized it by including its carcass in the family portrait. The clients could not abide this, but “the effect produced by the corpse so impressed the artist that rather than remove it to satisfy his clients he left the work unfinished.” vanrijngo.
