Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt van Rijn, the 17th-century Dutch master, was more than just a painter of moody, light-filled masterpieces. He was a man of contradictions: a miller's son who married a mayor's daughter, and an artist who signed his work with only his first name, a power move for the time. He was also a prolific "selfie" artist, leaving behind around 80 self-portraits that chronicle his journey from a confident young man to a world-weary elder. Financially, Rembrandt was notoriously irresponsible, a "shopaholic" for art and antiquities which ultimately led to his bankruptcy in 1656. Rumor has it he once painted his dead pet monkey, and some scholars have even suggested he may have had "stereo blindness," which could have aided his 2D translations of a 3D world. While these tales add to his mystique, what remains undisputed is his genius for capturing the human spirit in all its flawed and beautiful glory.