REMBRANDT’S SIGNATURES

In the past research about Rembrandt, several elements of his work lacked explanation and were ascribed to the so-called “mystery of Rembrandt.” One of these elements is the casual evolution of his signature throughout his career. This book aims to demonstrate how Rembrandt’s signatures reflect the different spiritual stages of his life. By analyzing the evolution of his signature in his paintings and etchings, the essay will reveal Rembrandt’s connections to his different religious and fraternal affiliations: Christianity, Judaism, the Kabbalah, and Freemasonry.

Rembrandt’s Spiritual Journey
Christianity

Rembrandt was born on July 15, 1606, the ninth child born to the Miller Harmen Gerritszoon Van Rijn and to Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck, a baker’s daughter. While his father belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church, his mother was Roman Catholic: this might have prompted Rembrandt to be one of those Christians who avoided membership in any congregation. Moreover, there was a ban on practicing Catholic rituals openly and, during Rembrandt’s Leiden years, a strong opposition between the Remonstrant and Contro-Remonstrant communities over the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. Rembrandt probably preferred not to take sides. In 1686 Italian abbot and art connaisseur Filippo Baldinucci claimed that Rembrandt was an Anabaptist. However, this simply cannot be true because the Dutch aster had his children baptized as infants, a practice repudiated by Anabaptists.[2]

Freemasonry

As part of his quest for a satisfactory religious doctrine, Rembrandt changed his faith several times. Rembrandt arrived at this decision after searching for a faith that seemed more humane, free, and suited to his personality. However, one must note that officially organized Freemasonry was established in Holland only after Rembrandt’s death. Thus, Rembrandt and several of his friends were members of an illicit Masonic organization. Although Holland was considered tolerant towards outsiders, in Rembrandt’s time, one risked being jailed or even tortured for belonging to an organization such as the Freemasons.

The hidden hand is a Freemason’s symbol that appears in many works of Art, as can be observed in the famous portraits of Mozart as a child and Napoleon’s portrait by Jacques-Louis David. In many of his self-portraits, Rembrandt is represented with the “hidden hand”: this could indicate his affiliation with the Freemasons.[3]

“The gesture of hiding one’s hand simply has to have a specific meaning. It does. Most of the people using this sign are proven (and often enthusiastic) members of the Freemasons. Considering the great importance of this gesture in Masonic rituals and the fact that all of the elite were either part of Freemasonry or knew of it, it is simply impossible that the recurrence of this sign could be the result of a coincidence. The “hidden hand” can, in fact, be found in the rituals of the Royal Arch Degree of Freemasonry, and the world leaders that use this sign are subtly saying to other initiates of the order: “This is what I’m part of, this is what I believe in, and this is what I’m working for.”[4]