Rembrandt met Saskia in 1633. He was already well on his way to becoming a prominent painter, and she came from a wealthy family in Leeuwarden. Soon after their first meeting, the couple announced their engagement and in 1634 were married in the Frisian village of St. Annaparochie. After the wedding the couple moved to Amsterdam, where Rembrandt had his studio. The painter liked to use his new wife as a model. A number of his drawings and etchings depicting Saskia are included in the exhibition.
Rembrandt and Saskia had four children. The first three died as infants. Only their fourth baby, Titus, would reach adulthood. But Saskia did not live to see this. Soon after Titus’ birth and eight years after the wedding, Saskia died in 1642 at the age of 29. The highlight of the exhibition is the portrait of Saskia that Rembrandt completed after her death. Saskia in Profile in Rich Costume, one of his most personal masterpieces (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister of the Museumslandschaft Hessen-Kassel).
The exhibition Kassel… verliebt in Saskia. Liebe und Ehe in Rembrandts Zeit is made in collaboration with the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden and can be seen from 24 November 2018 to 17 March 2019 in the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, and from 12 April to 11 August 2019 at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister of the Museumslandschaft Hessen-Kassel.