Rembrandt the Great

Today Google marked the407th birthday of Rembrandt Van Rijn,dutch painter from the 17th century, who was one of the greatest painters to have ever existed in the world. Man was a genius, he painted light and shadow in a dramatic manner (an effect called Chiaroscuro, still in use by painters and photographers to this day).

Self-portrait of the artist

I first saw the above painting at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. It's an incredible painting. 

Rembrandt stated in one of his letters, that his greatest achievement through Art was to try the greatest and most natural movement. In his later works, he actually discouraged viewers from looking too closely at his paintings, as he used coarse brush strokes (much more different than his earlier smooth style). But the end result of this painting style was a richly varied handling of paint, deeply layered and often apparently
haphazard, which suggests form and space in both an illusory and highly individual manner.

So, let's raise a glass to Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (oh stop showing off that you can pronounce his name and just call him Rembrandt) and happy 407th birthday, old man.
Cheers.