The Lovers’ Chronicle 15 July – reverie – art by Rembrandt

15 July 2023 By Rhett 0 In Random

Dear Zazie, Here is Mac Tag‘s Lovers’ Chronicle to his muse. Follow us on twitter @cowboycoleridge. Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

dancin’ the same dance

lookin’ out portholes

suvivin’ storms, pluggin’ holes

and catchin’ glimpses

of the sunrise

keep lookin’, keep hopin’

nothin’ more sacred,

than a woman’s heart

yours, more so than most

will you ever know again,

my wish on the wind

is that you will

that i am diligently

engaged in pursuin’

three passions

of the three, one

has been completed,

as a token of my readiness

to serve you with my favor,

i cannot refrain from presentin’

you, my verse, i trust that you

will accept it and my devotion

i shall find, day by day,
in all thoughts and things,
the heart of friendship

outside of you,
what matters

from the first glance,
remain forever

were there some way
to put into words
the essential nature
of the woven texture
of our time together

an uninterrupted stream of you
a flow never ceasin’,
and the quaverin’
continues

when we danced,
‘neath the High Plains stars,
i remember, i remember
how those days fleeted by

and sleep
will not come
for i fancy
those long ago
embraces

Today is the birthday of Rembrandt (Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn; Leiden; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669 Amsterdam); painter and etcher. Generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth and cultural achievement that historians call the Dutch Golden Age when Dutch Golden Age painting was prolific and innovative, and gave rise to important new genres in painting.In 1634, Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburgh. They were married in the local church of St. Annaparochie without the presence of Rembrandt’s relatives. Saskia died in 1642 probably from tuberculosis. Rembrandt’s drawings of her on her sick and death bed are among his most moving works. During Saskia’s illness, Geertje Dircx was hired as caretaker and nurse and also became Rembrandt’s lover. She would later charge Rembrandt with breach of promise (a euphemism for seduction under [breached] promise to marry) and was awarded alimony. Rembrandt worked to have her committed for twelve years to an asylum or poorhouse (called a “bridewell”) at Gouda, after learning she had pawned jewelry that had once belonged to Saskia and that he had given to her.

In the late 1640s Rembrandt began a relationship with the much younger Hendrickje Stoffels, who had initially been his maid. In 1654 they had a daughter. Hendrickje received a summons from the Reformed Church to answer the charge “that she had committed the acts of a whore with Rembrandt the painter”. She admitted this and was banned from receiving communion. Rembrandt was not summoned to appear for the Church council because he was not a member of the Reformed Church. The two were considered legally wed under common law.

Rembrandt was buried as a poor man in an unknown grave in the Westerkerk. It was in a numbered ‘kerkgraf’ (grave owned by the church) somewhere under a tombstone in the church. After twenty years, his remains were taken away and destroyed, as was customary with the remains of poor people at that time.

Gallery

Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar (1659), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The Prodigal Son in the Tavern, a self-portrait with Saskia, c. 1635

Portrait of Saskia van Uylenburgh, ca. 1635

Rembrandt’s son Titus, as a monk, 1660

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633. The painting is still missing after the robbery from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

A Polish Nobleman, 1637

The Abduction of Europa, 1632. Oil on panel. The work has been described as “…a shining example of the ‘golden age’ of Baroque painting.”

A typical portrait from 1634, when Rembrandt was enjoying great commercial success

Self Portrait, 1658, Frick Collection, a masterpiece of the final style, “the calmest and grandest of all his portraits”

The Windmill, etching

The three trees, 1643, etching

The Polish Rider – Possibly a Lisowczyk on horseback.

The Man with the Golden Helmet, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, once one of the most famous “Rembrandt” portraits, is no longer attributed to the master.

Slaughtered Ox, (1655), Musée du Louvre, Paris

Saskia as Flora, 1635

The Girl in a Picture Frame, 1641, Royal Castle, Warsaw

The evangelist Matthew and the angel, 1661

A young Rembrandt, c. 1628, when he was 22. Partly an exercise in chiaroscuro. Rijksmuseum
Self-portrait, c. 1629; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg
Self-portrait, 1630, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Self-Portrait with Velvet Beret and Furred Mantle 1634
Self-portrait, 1640, at 34 years old. National Gallery, London
Self-Portrait, oil on canvas, 1652. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Self-portrait, Vienna c. 1655, oil on walnut, cut down in size. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Self-Portrait, 1660
Self-Portrait as Zeuxis, c. 1662. One of 2 painted self-portraits in which Rembrandt is turned to the left. Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne
Self-portrait, 1669.
Self-portrait, dated 1669, the year he died, though he looks much older in other portraits. National Gallery, London

The Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1625, The first painting by Rembrandt, painted at the age of 19. It is currently kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 1630
The Philosopher in Meditation, 1632
Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, 1632
Abraham and Isaac, 1634
The Blinding of Samson, 1636, which Rembrandt gave to Huyghens
Saskia in red hat, 1635
Susanna, 1636
Belshassar’s Feast, 1636-8
The Archangel leaving Tobias, 1637
The Landscape with Good Samaritan, 1638
Susanna and the Elders, 1647
The Mill, 1648
An Old Man in Red, 1652-1654
Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, 1653, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Young Girl at the Window, 1654
Portrait of the later mayor Jan Six, a wealthy friend of Rembrandt, 1654
Bathsheba at Her Bath, modeled after Hendrickje, 1654
Woman Bathing in a Stream, 1655
Woman in a Doorway, 1657-1658
Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther, 1660
Saint Bartholomew, 1661, J. Paul Getty Museum
The Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild, 1662
The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (cut-down), 1661–62
Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph, 1656
The Return of the Prodigal Son, detail, c. 1669

Self-portrait in a cap, with eyes wide open, etching and burin, 1630
Self-portrait, pen and brush and ink on paper, c. 1628-1629
Role-playing in Self-portrait as an oriental Potentate with a Kris, etching, 1634
The Hundred Guilder Print, c. 1647–1649,
Suzannah and the Elders, drawing, 1634
Self-portrait with Saskia, etching, 1636
Self-portrait leaning on a Sill, etching, 1639
The Three Crosses, etching by Rembrandt, 1653, State III of V
Christ and the woman taken in adultery, drawing
Virgin and Child with a Cat, 1654. Original copper etching plate above, example of the print below
An elephant 1637
Christ presented to the People, drypoint, 1655, State I of VIII