The Standard Bearer

A work full of courage, bravado and rebellion. What makes The Standard- Bearer so special? It is considered a key work in Rembrandt’s oeuvre. He painted it at the age of 30, when he was already a popular portraitist in Amsterdam. He probably hoped to break new ground with this ‘calling card’: The Standard-Bearer advertises his ambition and virtuosity.The loose, even nonchalant brushstrokes, the deliberate scratches in the paint, his use of light and the resulting three-dimensional effect: they all go to show Rembrandt’s idiosyncratic style.Standard-bearers played an important role in the Eighty Years’ War, the conflict that would lead to the birth of an independent Dutch Republic. The standard-bearer had to defend the banner with his life, and was therefore a symbol of strength and bravery.Courage, peace and art are inextricably linked in this masterpiece.In this book, Jonathan Bikker, curator of seventeenth-century Dutch painting, explains the symbolism of The Standard- Bearer and discusses the key position that this self-portrait occupies in Rembrandt’s oeuvre.