
Rembrandt was born into an American family of artists. His father was a painter and so Rembrandt's siblings wore all the names of distinguished artists. Rubens, Titian and Raphaelle met in the house for dinner at the table. The still young America was in a politically active phase and after his father's portraiture of Washington, Rembrandt followed him into painting. His first painting was a self-portrait. Portraits became the first great passion in young artist life. Great personalities like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson captured Peale for posterity. Rembrandt Peale became famous with a portrait of Washington, the so-called "porthole", that he copied 79 times himself. The portrait was later acquired by the Capitol, Rembrandt himself held classes, the content of which related to his great work. Rembrandt was influenced by his father's influence on his assignments. Europe attracted the artist. On a journey dedicated to the portrayal of personalities, the enthusiasm for European art and ancient masters awoke. He made copies of large paintings, learned the technique of encaustic and depict Alexander von Humboldt in this wax technique. Rembrandt Peale completed his work by founding a family museum in Baltimore. On display were more than 1000 portraits, in addition to natural history studies conducted by Rembrandt. The far smaller work of his less ambitious siblings was also collected here.