This hall is devoted to the paintings of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669), whose oeuvre became one of the peaks of European art in its Golden Age. Hanging on the long wall of the hall are works by pupils and followers of the Dutch genius.
By the door leading to the Council Staircase is a masterpiece of the dynamic expressive Baroque style in Rembrandt’s oeuvre: the monumental Sacrifice of Isaac depicting a well-known episode from the Old Testament. The emotional tension reaches its peak in the majestic, moving image of the biblical patriarch Abraham on the point of obeying God’s command and sacrificing his only son Isaac, when an angel sent from heaven stays his hand. The doors leading into the neighbouring hall are flanked by works painted by well-known members of the school of Rembrandt: a Self-Portrait by Samuel Dircksz van Hoogstraten (1627–1772) and a Portrait of a Man by Ferdinand Bol (1606–1680). On the partition is Rembrandt’s celebrated painting The Return of the Prodigal Son.
