The Mill (1645-1648)

Rembrandt (1606-1669)

The Mill
16451648
Oil on canvas, 87.6 x 105.6 cm
National Gallery of ArtWashington

After learning the fundamentals of drawing and painting in his native LeidenRembrandt van Rijn went to Amsterdam in 1624 to study for six months with Pieter Lastman (1583–1633), a famous history painter. Upon completion of his training Rembrandt returned to Leiden. Around 1632 he moved to Amsterdam, quickly establishing himself as the town’s leading artist, specializing in history paintings and portraiture. He received many commissions and attracted a number of students who came to learn his method of painting. Nineteenth-century connoisseurs considered Rembrandt’s painting of The Mill to be one of the master’s greatest creations. They celebrated the dramatic silhouette of the post-mill against a dark, stormy sky, unaware that the romantic aura and rich golden tone of the scene were caused by darkened and discolored varnish. They attributed the heavy atmosphere to Rembrandt’s frame of mind in the period of the mid-1650s, when he encountered severe financial difficulties. The restoration of the painting in 19771979 removed the old varnish, thereby changing the painting’s symbolic character. Under the blue and steel-gray sky, the bright sails on the vanes draw the viewer’s eyes to the mill, which is perched on a bulwark to take advantage of the additional height. Although it is possible that Rembrandt based this scene on his father’s mill on the ramparts of Leiden, he imaginatively conceived the scene to symbolically portray the mill as a guardian, protecting the land and its people. A windmill stands on a promontory cutting into a waterway under a partially stormy sky in this square landcape painting. The promontory and mill are painted in muted tones of brown and rust orange, while steel-gray and white clouds encircle a topaz-blue sky above. The promontory juts into the scene from our left, and the front of the windmill is angled to our right so its golden-tan sails catch the light. Silvery water winds around the base of the promontory and extends to a dark green, shadowy bank on the far side. A boat in the lower right corner of the composition is rowed by a man wearing a red jacket and cap. A path runs to the water’s edge from the left edge of the painting, in front of the promontory’s retaining wall, which is shored up with stones or panels. A person in dark clothing close to the windmill seems to rest their arms on the retaining wall, their back to us. Closer to us, a woman holds a child’s hand as they walk down the path to the bank. A bearded man with tattered brown clothes and bare feet stands leaning against the wall near a woman wearing burnt-orange garment. She sits or kneels at the water’s edge in front of a basket of clothes and holds up a brown cloth. The olive-green forms of the trees on the far bank are reflected in the water, and closer inspection reveals two cows near the water there. Charcoal-gray clouds pile up along the left of the painting and span the top edge. There is a brilliant blue sky beyond and a screen of white clouds near the horizon, which comes about a third of the way up the canvas. (NGA)