Thought for the Week: Rembrandt van Rijn
Ruth Tod reflects on Rembrandt van Rijn
The exhibition of the late work of Rembrandt, held in the National Gallery in London over the past four months, has been an extraordinary experience for the thousands of people who have visited it.
When I walked around the exhibition with others who had come to see the work of the seventeenth century Dutch master I felt that a sense of quiet veneration was absorbing us all. I stood before Rembrandt’s full-size later self-portraits and was humbled and empowered in the presence of his vulnerability and inner wisdom. Amongst all those people, I just waited there: I in his presence and he in mine.
Besides the four full-size self-portraits, there are portraits of Dutch citizens, some huge pictures of biblical scenes and many etchings. In his last few years, Rembrandt was not interested in painting what people expected. He painted from his soul and his heart. Every picture is a window into the essence of the sitter and the scene. Each one is a bridge between the painter, the subject and us, the viewers.
My favourite painting is a late self-portrait that Rembrandt painted of himself as an artist. It normally hangs in Kenwood House in North London. The work has recently been restored. Rembrandt now stands out from a pale background, strong and firmly present, yet vulnerable and sad. The paint has been spread on in a seemingly careless fashion, creating an impression of movement and life. The deep red of the shirt across his chest draws me to his centre and then gives way to a red, brown and black scarf and a black cloak. Only his face reveals details: wrinkles, sadness, humour and acceptance are all rolled together.
His cheeks glow with pink and yellow in the light, whilst his eyes hide a little in darkness: mysterious, probing and questioning. These are artist’s eyes that have watched and learnt with compassion and integrity. He holds brushes and a palette while on the wall behind he has drawn parts of two perfect circles. He seems to be saying, ‘Here am I. Simply and completely me. Through my art, I have tried to show you some of the innermost truths of life. Stay and wait with me’.
Despite the crowds in the room, for me standing before Rembrandt is a form of meditation. I feel able to mirror what he is doing, to look at myself and be myself, to receive from him and connect with him, to accept myself as he accepted himself.
Rembrandt painted about fifty self-portraits during the course of his life: the smiling young man full of the freshness of life, the experimenter who dressed up in biblical costumes, the joker, the mourner, the philosopher. All the time he is learning about himself: probing, watching, reflecting and using what he has discovered to paint others. Together they make a spiritual journey, till at the end he has returned to the simplicity and reality at the core of life.
My postcard picture is only a reminder of that fuller experience. My memory is stronger. I ask myself: ‘Where am I on my spiritual journey? What have I learnt? Can all my experiences lead me into that same place of true meeting?’
Rembrandt: The Late Works runs at the National Gallery in London until 18 January.
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