Rembrandt went bankrupt because he never finished paying for the house he had bought in Amsterdam, spent heavily on art while that debt grew, and lost his best-paying clients just as the money was demanded.
In the summer of 1656, the Dutch painter asked the city court to let him hand over everything he owned.
The house stood on the Sint Antoniesbreestraat, a street in Amsterdam. Rembrandt and his wife, Saskia, bought it in 1639, at the height of his fame, for 13,000 guilders, the Dutch currency of the time, to be paid in installments spread over several years.
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Rembrandt struggled to keep up with those installments from the start. After 1649 he paid nothing more, and more than half of the price was still unpaid when his troubles began.
Yet he did not look poor. In 1647, nine years before the court stepped in, a valuation of his possessions came to more than 40,000 guilders, three times the price of the house. A man worth that much should have been able to settle what he still owed.
Rich on paper
The catch lay in what those 40,000 guilders were made of. At least three-quarters of the sum was tied up in a single place…
What You'll Discover
The year the debt came due.
Why the paying clients drifted away.
What the court found in his house.
How he lived after the sale.