REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn
(b. 1606, Leiden, d. 1669, Amsterdam)

Saskia in Pompous Dress

c. 1634
Oil on wood, 100 x 79 cm
Staatliche Museen, Kassel

Catalogue number: Bredius 101.

Rembrandt married on June 22, 1634. His bride was Saskia Uylenburgh (born in 1612), the cousin of Hendrick Uylenburgh and the daughter of the burgomaster of Leeuwarden. Saskia brought a substantial dowry as well as patrician status with her, so this marriage represented a substantial climb in social status for Rembrandt.

Saskia was to be the subject of the largest number of single portraits during the 1630s. Rembrandt posed her in mythological dress, particularly in the flower-draped abundance of the goddess Flora (1634), and in formal attire with fastidious profile. But he also delighted in using her as his subject in a cluster of spontaneous domestic drawings, such as those catching her leaning out of a window or lying in bed. Some of the unhappy biographical data make the scenes in bed poignant: Saskia lost three children before the birth of a son, Titus, in 1641. Saskia herself died only a year later.