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Sample article: Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1607-1669)

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (Ryn), probably the greatest painter of the Western world, was born 15 July 1607 at Leiden, and died 4 October 1669 at Amsterdam. In an age when the tradition of Christian painting had been practically abandoned in the Netherlands under the influence of the Dutch Reformed spirit, Rembrandt devoted about one third of his life's work to the depiction of Biblical scenes. Contrary to the trend of contemporary art, in which the "genre" picture, still life, and seascapes predominated, he founded a new style of interpreta­tion of the Bible. To be sure, the young painter fre­quently drew his themes from the Bible because of the wealth of dramatic material found there, espe­cially in the Old Testament. But after the death of his wife Saskia in 1642 an increasing religious sin­cerity becomes evident in Rembrandt's work. Es­pecially his etchings and drawings (there are about 600 of these showing Biblical scenes) show Rem­brandt's reactions to the message of the Gospel.

Officially Rembrandt was a member of the Re­formed Church, and as yet there has been no evidence that he severed this connection in spite of serious conflicts with the church council, such as the exclusion of Hendrickje Stoffels from com­munion in 1653, who lived with him after his wife's death. Nevertheless there is some indication that Rembrandt was in close contact with Mennonite circles and from them received essential religious motivations.

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As of 20 February 2009 GAMEO includes or updates all articles that were published in volumes 1-5 of Mennonite Encyclopedia published by Herald Press of Scottdale, Pennsylvania and Waterloo, Ontario. On that date there were 14,160 articles in GAMEO. Thanks to the many volunteers who made this possible.