The painter most like you

You are most like Rembrandt

You trust a face as it really is, not dressed up

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer · 1653

Your nature

You are someone who trusts things as they are

This is a playful reading of your nature, not a scientific personality test.
The grey lines below come from Rembrandt's real life and work.

Your strength
You read the heart behind the surface. You notice sincerity before decoration.
Rembrandt's self-portraits show him from a dashing young man to a wrinkled old face.
When you shine
You shine when you listen deeply to someone's story.
He loved to paint scenes from the Bible and from old stories.
What wears you out
Gatherings that are all show and saving face wear you out quickly.
In 1656 he went through bankruptcy proceedings, and his house and collection were later sold at auction.
How you work
Rather than finishing in one go, you deepen things by revising and looking again.
He reworked the same copper plate several times, leaving prints that differ slightly from one another.
With other people
You stay close to a trusted few rather than many. Sharing what you know with someone can feel rewarding too.
Many pupils came and went through Rembrandt's studio to learn painting.
How you rest
Your mind rests among old objects and old stories.
He collected many objects, such as armour, seashells and sculptures.

Why Rembrandt?

You read stories in people's faces. Rembrandt painted his own face again and again, from youth to old age. Counting paintings, prints and drawings, his self-portraits number around eighty.

In his pictures the darkness is wide and the light falls only where it is needed. In Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, too, the light gathers on the face, the broad sleeves and the hand resting on the bust.

Rembrandt won great fame in Amsterdam, but later his debts forced him to give up his house and his collection. Even so, he kept painting.

If you believe things are most beautiful as they are, you are like Rembrandt.

Kindred painter · Opposite painter

Among the eight painters,
who is near and who is far

Kindred painter
Vermeer
You like to sit in a quiet room and look at one thing for a long time
You both take your time and are drawn to quiet light falling into a room. You make good company for deep conversations.
See the Vermeer result →
Opposite painter
Monet
The same view looks new to you whenever the light changes
The Monet type heads outdoors to chase light that changes by the minute, looking the other way from you. Walk with them and the outdoors may look new to you.
See the Monet result →

Spend a day like this painter

Today, like Rembrandt

Three small ideas. Trying just one is enough.

Look at your own face in a mirror for a minute, just as it is, and describe today's expression in one line.
Turn on a single light and notice where it reaches in the room and where the dark stays.
Ask an older person close to you to tell you one story from their youth.

Rembrandt

Step into Rembrandt's paintings

While you are here, stand in front of a painting for three minutes.
For each one, here is where to look first.

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer1653
How to lookLook first at the hand resting on the bust's head, then at the gold chain hanging from his shoulder.
Self-Portrait1660
How to lookLook at the lines on the forehead and the shadows under the eyes. There is a signature in the background on the right.
The Last Supper, after Leonardo da Vinci1634–35
How to lookFollow the red chalk lines. The area behind the central figure is built up from lines drawn over and over.