Rembrandt at the Hermitage

Q: What are the most famous Rembrandts here?

The Return of the Prodigal Son and Danaë; also Flora, The Sacrifice of Isaac, The Holy Family, David and Jonathan and the late portraits.

The Hermitage holds one of the largest collections of Rembrandt outside the Netherlands — around two dozen paintings spanning the master’s whole career, from his early dramatic scenes to the restrained, profound works of his last years. The Rembrandt collection is a fixed point of any visit and one of the reasons the Hermitage ranks among the world’s great museums.

Which room it is in

Rembrandt’s paintings are gathered in Room 254 of the New Hermitage — the Rembrandt room on the first floor. Here the canvases hang together, so the room reads as a single story of the artist. Use the floor plan to find it and the one-day itinerary to fit it into your visit.

The great masterpieces

the Return of the Prodigal Son (about 1668) — the summit of his late work and one of the museum’s most famous paintings: a scene of forgiveness made months before the artist’s death;
Danaë (1636–1647) — a famous picture with a dramatic fate: in 1985 it was doused with acid, and its restoration took twelve years;
Flora (1630s) — Saskia, the artist’s wife, as the goddess of spring; the early, bright, festive Rembrandt;
The Sacrifice of Isaac (1635) — Baroque drama: the angel seizes Abraham’s hand and the knife hangs in mid-air;
The Descent from the Cross — a religious scene in which light draws the body of Christ and the grieving faces out of the dark;
The Holy Family (1645) — a quiet, almost domestic scene where the sacred hides in the everyday: a cradle, a hearth, a book;
David and Jonathan (1642) — a farewell full of restrained tenderness;
Portrait of an Old Man in Red (1650s) and other late portraits — faces sunk in shadow, with a whole lived life legible in them.

Light and shade

Rembrandt is unmistakable for his chiaroscuro. The source of light is almost always hidden, and a single beam draws a face, a hand or a fabric out of deep gloom — your eye goes where the painter leads it. In the late works the paint is laid on thickly, in relief, almost like sculptural matter: the face of the Prodigal Son or of the old man in red is modelled with the brush rather than drawn. This manner makes the figures live and gives the scenes their silent, inner depth.

History of the collection

The core was laid by Catherine the Great, who in the 18th century bought entire European collections (Crozat, Baudouin and others) — that is how both Danaë and the Return of the Prodigal Son reached Russia. In the 20th century the collection suffered losses: in the late 1920s and early 1930s the Soviet government sold dozens of the Hermitage’s masterpieces abroad, and works by Rembrandt were among them — some now hang in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Even so, the core of the collection survived, came through the siege evacuation and the post-war return, and is back in Room 254 today.

Why the collection matters

The Hermitage holdings let you trace the whole evolution of the master. The early Rembrandt is brilliant, Baroque, fond of the dramatic gesture and bright light (Flora, The Sacrifice of Isaac). The late Rembrandt is quiet, concentrated and psychological: outward effect gives way to dense, almost tangible light, to silence and depth of feeling (The Prodigal Son, the late portraits). Few museums let you see that journey so fully.

What to look for

Compare the early Flora with the late Prodigal Son — they could be two different painters.
Look for the hidden light source and watch how the beam steers your eye.
Step close to the late works: up close you see how thick and “built up” the paint becomes.

For the two great canvases in detail, see the Return of the Prodigal Son and Danaë. For neighbouring collections, see the Italian Renaissance and the Dutch and Flemish painting (Rubens, Van Dyck and the “small Dutch” nearby).

FAQ

Which room holds Rembrandt’s paintings? Room 254 (the Rembrandt room), on the first floor of the Main Museum Complex.

How many Rembrandts are in the Hermitage? Around two dozen — one of the largest collections outside the Netherlands.

What are the most famous Rembrandts here? The Return of the Prodigal Son and Danaë; also Flora, The Sacrifice of Isaac, The Holy Family, David and Jonathan and the late portraits.

How did the paintings reach the museum? Mostly through Catherine the Great’s 18th-century purchases (the Crozat and Baudouin collections and others).

Did the Hermitage lose any Rembrandts? Yes — some were sold abroad in the 1930s and now hang in museums in the United States.

This is an unofficial, informational website. The display and arrangement of works can change — confirm details on the official museum website.