Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leyden, about 50 kilometres from Amsterdam, on the 15th of July 1606. Rembrandt was the eighth of nine children. Some critics have described Rembrandt's traditionally large family as struggling; however, there is no documented evidence that suggests that the van Rijn family was in anyway impoverished. Rather, it is thought that the family was quite comfortable. Their reputation was that of a respectable, middle-class family.
Rembrandt's father was a successful miller. His surname, van Rijn, suggests that his family had been established for generations in the same region near the Rhine River. In fact, the family's mill, which was on the Velst, a branch of the Rhine, was called the Rhine Mill.
Rembrandt's mother was Neeltgen (also called Cornelia) Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck. She was the daughter of a prosperous baker. The family was close as ws the norm of the day. Rembrandt's grandfather on his mother's side was also the godfather of Rembrandt's brother, Willem.
Rembrandt's decision to become an artist, or perhaps the decision of his parents to establish him in such a risky profession, was not made early. His parents felt that Rembrandt was the most promising of their children. They, accordingly, provided to him at a very early age a correct, traditional education. They enrolled him at the Latin School in Leyden to prepare him for a learned profession.
The van Rijn family lived in the Dutch nation of United Provinces, as they were called at this time. In this society it was unusual, but not impossible, for a miller's son to aspire to any position, regardless of the amount of education required.
It appears that Rembrandt's parents well understood the value of education and the opportunities it provided and passed this understanding onto their son. Rembrandt portrays this understanding in some of his earliest paintings when he depicts Jesus teaching the prophets in the temple and in the drawing of a family group seated around a book on a candlelit table.
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