An Artist of the Dutch Baroque period, Rembrandt Van Rijn was born on July 15th, 1606. His father, Herman Gerritszoon who was a miller, his mother Neeltje or Cornelia Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck, and his brothers lived in the town of Leiden next to the northern branch of the Rhine River and about 25 miles south of Amsterdam. Rembrandt was the 8th of 9 children born. His family was somewhat poor until his mother's death in 1640 left them well off with a 10,000 florins estate.
From the time of his birth, Rembrandt's parents had directed him towards the study of law, which is unlike his brothers who were directed towards the manual trades. He spent seven years at Latin School where he learned a great deal about religion that later influenced his paintings and portraits.
He enrolled at the University of Leiden. After a few months he discovered that it did not interest him and then decided to leave to pursue art. …
