Rembrandt | Painting materials

Technical investigation of Rembrandt's (1606-1669) paintings in the possession of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister and in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Kassel) was conducted by Hermann Kühn in 1977.

The pigment analyses of some thirty paintings have shown that Rembrandt's palette consisted of the following pigments: lead white, various ochres, Vandyke brown, bone black, charcoal black, lamp black, vermilion, madder lake, azurite, ultramarine, yellow lake and lead-tin-yellow.

Synthetic orpiment was shown in the shadows of the sleeve of the jewish groom.

This toxic arsenic yellow was rarely used in oil painting.

One painting (Saskia van Uylenburgh as Flora) reportedly contains gamboge.

Rembrandt very rarely used pure blue or green colors, the most pronounced exception being Belshazzar's Feast in the National Gallery in London.

The book by Bomford describes more recent technical investigations and pigment analyses of Rembrandt's paintings predominantly in the National Gallery in London.

The entire array of pigments employed by Rembrandt can be found at ColourLex.

The best source for technical information on Rembrandt's paintings on the web is the Rembrandt Database containing all works of Rembrandt with detailed investigative reports, infrared and radiography images and other scientific details.