AllMovie

Shot and released to commemorate the quadricentennial anniversary of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn's birth -- on July 15, 1606 -- the home-video issue Rembrandt: 400 Years etches out a documentary glimpse of Rembrandt's life -- from his childhood as a miller's son in early 17th century Leiden, Holland, through his early work with portraiture, his marriage to Saskia van Uylenberg, his Biblical works, his growing fame, his bankruptcy late in life (from exceeding his income with expenditures), and his death on October 4, 1669. Throughout, the program highlights many of Rembrandt's individual paintings and sketches, and discusses in great depth the techniques that guided his hand. It also travels to Amsterdam in the present day to explore the buildings in which the Dutch master of the canvas lived and worked.