Above: Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-portrait With Wide-Open Eyes, 1630, etching. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Amor Vincit Omnia, 1601 - 02, oil on canvas.

Other Top Events “The Essence of Rembrandt,” Amsterdam Historical Museum (May 12 - August 13) “Rembrandt and the Bible,” Biblical Museum, Amsterdam (September 15 - December 10) “Rembrandt's Documents,” Municipal Archives, Amsterdam (October 15 - December 31) “The ‘Jewish' Rembrandt,” Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam (November 10, 2006 - February 4, 2007) “A Summer with Rembrandt,” Mauritshuis, The Hague (June 26 - September 18) Rembrandt the Musical, Royal Carré Theatre, Amsterdam (July 15, 2006 - February 1, 2007)

Art lovers won't be able to stay away: The Netherlands is embarking on a year of celebration in honor of the 400th birthday of Rembrandt van Rijn. The Year of Rembrandt is a joint effort spearheaded by three museums: the Lakenhal in Leiden, the city where the artist was born in 1606, The Rembrandt House and the Rijksmuseum. Other museums have joined in, and events will take place countrywide.

With his enormous genius and his humanity, Rembrandt has spoken to us over the centuries. Perhaps no artist has ever portrayed emotional or introspective states as he did. His life was full of vicissitudes. The son of a miller who wanted his son to become a scholar, Rembrandt managed to train as a painter, apprenticing himself at age 15 to Jacob van Swanenburgh, a history painter. At the age of 25, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam and received many commissions for portraits from art dealer Hendrick Uylenburgh. He soon had prosperity, a wife, Saskia, a house, apprentices and an art collection. He and Saskia had four children, only one of whom, Titus (1612 - 1642), lived past childhood. Saskia died when Titus was six months old, and Rembrandt took up with his son's nanny, Geertje Dircx. The affair, which aroused the disfavor of Amsterdam's conventional middle class, ended in 1646 because Rembrandt had fallen in love with his 18-year-old housekeeper, Hendrickje Stoffels. Unfortunately, his unorthodox way of life, dishonest business dealings and appetite for collecting art objects led to his being declared bankrupt in 1656. In 1660, Rembrandt, Stoffels, their daughter, Cornelia, and his son, Titus, moved to a smaller house. Within five years Rembrandt lost both Stoffels and his son to the plague. Rembrandt died in 1669.

The opening exhibition of the Year of Rembrandt is being held at Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal (December 16, 2005 - March 19, 2006). “Rembrandt's Mother: Myth and Reality” tries to discover the identity of the elderly woman depicted in Rembrandt's work. As early as the 17th century, she was believed to be his mother, Neeltje van Zuydtbroeck. However, the same woman also appears in paintings by Rembrandt's friend and fellow artist Jan Lievens and his apprentice Gerrit Dou. By the 19th century, an entire myth had grown up around Rembrandt's family, and various figures in his work were identified as his mother, father, sister or uncle. “We gathered together all of the works in which [the old woman] is depicted – 45 paintings and 40 etchings and drawings,” says curator Christiaan Vogelaar, who says that he believes she is Rembrandt's mother, though it has not been proven.

Lakenhal's second exhibition is “Rembrandt the Narrator: Etchings from the Frits Lugt Collection” (April 13 - September 3). Lugt (1884 - 1970) collected all of Rembrandt's etchings, and the collection is being loaned to the exhibition for the first time in its entirety. “Rembrandt made 295 etchings,” says Vogelaar, “but the Lugt collection has only 280. The reason is that Lugt was something of a prude and left out the etchings of female nudes because he thought that they could not possibly have been done by Rembrandt.” The exhibition will include the nude etchings, which have been borrowed from other collections.

The final of the three Rembrandt exhibitions mounted by Lakenhal, “Rembrandt's Landscapes” (October 6, 2006 - January 7, 2007), is being presented in cooperation with the Staatliche Museum, Kassel, Germany, where the exhibition will be on view before it travels to Leiden. Rembrandt's painted landscapes are less well known than his etchings and drawings of landscapes. “There are only seven known paintings of landscapes, and all are being shown together for the first time,” says Vogelaar. Included is The Mill from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. “In the early 20th century,” says Vogelaar, “it was one of the best known Rembrandts.”

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Night Watch, 1642, oil on canvas.

The Rembrandt House, a museum since 1906 – where Rembrandt lived in great style from 1639 until 1658 – is holding four major exhibitions. “Rembrandt and English Etching” (December 17, 2005 - March 12, 2006) includes works dating from 1850 to 1930 by British artists inspired by Rembrandt. Highlights are etchings by James McNeill Whistler, one of the founding fathers of the movement of English etchers. Also represented is Francis Seymour Hayden, who, says curator Bob van den Boogert, “collected Rembrandt etchings and made his own in Rembrandt's style.” The British etchings, which come from the Schloss Moyland collection in Germany, are being shown with complementary Rembrandt etchings.

A loan exhibition of over 50 paintings and 50 drawings, “Rembrandt: The Quest of a Genius” (April 1 - July 2), “gives insight into [Rembrandt's] artistic problems, particularly after 1642, when he went through an artistic crisis after Saskia died and he finished The Night Watch,” says van den Boogert. Highlights include Susanna and the Elders from the Staatliche Museum, Berlin, Portrait of Herman Doomer, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and two versions of Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife.

“Rembrandt the Etcher” (July 8 - September 3) is a thematic exhibition, “offering insight into his artistic thinking,” says van den Boogert. By showing themes not shown before, such as Rembrandt's treatment of medical subjects, the exhibition will present a different view of one of the greatest graphic artists of all time.

“Uylenburgh & Son: Art & Commerce in Rembrandt's Time” (September 14 - December 10) promises to be fascinating to anyone interested in the international art market. Hendrick and Gerrit Uylenburgh had an artist's workshop in Amsterdam and sold paintings by Italian and Flemish artists as well as by Dutch masters. Rembrandt ran the workshop for four years. The exhibition provides an overview of the paintings and sculptures that were bought and sold by the firm between 1625 and 1675, including works by Anthony van Dyck and Govert Flinck, as well as Rembrandt, who is represented by 15 paintings.

The Rijksmuseum is exhibiting all 20 Rembrandt paintings from its famous collection (January 26, 2006 - December 31, 2007). This is the first exhibition since their recent restoration, says Taco Dibbits, head of the museum's 17th-century paintings department. Highlights include The Nigh Watch, The Jewish Bride and The Syndics of the Clothmaker's Guild.

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Jewish Bride, 1667, oil on canvas.

“Rembrandt-Caravaggio,” presented jointly by the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, where it will be shown (February 24 - June 18), is arguably the major highlight of the Rembrandt Year. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 - 1610) died when Rembrandt was only four year old. There are, however, parallels between the two artists and their work. “They are the two geniuses of baroque painting,” says Dibbits. Both artists are known for their emotionally charged subject matter, dramatic use of light and shadow, and disturbing realism. In the early 17th century, a group of Dutch artists traveled to Rome and became known as “Caravaggisti,” because they were influenced by the artist. The Caravaggio style became very popular in Holland, and it was through these artists that Rembrandt was introduced to Caravaggio. The show, says Dibbits, will be of special importance to Dutch viewers who are not familiar with Caravaggio's work – it has not been shown in Holland since 1952. There are 25 paintings in the exhibition. Highlights include Caravaggio's The Supper at Emmaus, from the National Gallery London, and Amor Vincit Omnia, from Berlin. The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, is lending its picture of Two Scholars Disputing, which Dibbits describes as “Rembrandt's most Caravaggio-esque painting” and one that has not left the museum since 1934.

“Really Rembrandt” at the Rijksmuseum (March 9 - May 24) includes 14 paintings that were originally attributed to the artist, but are now in doubt. Among the works shown are a small Samson and Delilah painting and a beautiful still life of books. Both are now attributed to Lievens.

“All Rembrandt's Drawing in the Rijksmuseum” is a two-part exhibition of all 60 drawings from the museum's collection. Part 1: The Story Teller (August 11 - October 11) shows Rembrandt as a teller of essentially biblical stories. Part II: The Observer (October 14 - December 31) focuses on how he viewed the world around him.

Of Rembrandt 400, Vogelaar says: “It is quite remarkable that there is not one show on Rembrandt in general. All of the museums have chosen instead to show one aspect. But it all adds up to a great survey of Rembrandt's work and life.” Rembrandt 400 is Holland's birthday party for its native son – and an event that the whole world should celebrate.