Gerard van Honthorst - Different to Rembrandt

Gerard van Honthorst

In 2026, the Centraal Museum will present the first major retrospective exhibition on Gerard van Honthorst (1592–1656). The Utrecht-born painter, a contemporary of Rembrandt, left for Italy at a young age and made a name for himself in Rome with his night scenes, which earned him the nickname ‘Gherardo delle Notti’.

Heyday

Honthorst was one of the few non-Italians to receive prestigious commissions for altarpieces and managed to win the favour of influential art collectors. After his return in 1620, he focused on lively genre pieces and groups of musicians. He perfected the pastoral genre and the ‘portrait historié’, and in the years that followed devoted himself increasingly to portraiture. He understood better than anyone what his patrons expected of him and adapted his style almost intuitively. As a result, he received important commissions from royal and noble families throughout Europe. Honthorst is regarded as one of the most successful artists in the vibrant art scene of the seventeenth century, a period defined by the heyday of the Dutch school of painting represented by Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer. Although he was more successful than his contemporaries in his own time, he is today overshadowed by his famous contemporaries.