Painter · 1606 – 1669

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

If you're interested in Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, these historical figures share a similar impact, discipline, philosophy, or era. Each recommendation explains why the connection exists.

Similar Impact & Significance

Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

97

Artist · 1452 – 1519

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath — painter, inventor, anatomist and engineer — whose curiosity and genius made him the archetype of the 'Renaissance man'.

  • Mona Lisa
  • The Last Supper

Why An earlier master whose study of light and human expression anticipated Rembrandt's own.

Portrait of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino

90

Painter · 1483 – 1520

Raphael was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance whose works, prized for their harmony and grace, include The School of Athens and a famous series of serene Madonnas.

  • The School of Athens
  • Sistine Madonna

Why A High Renaissance master whose harmonious art Rembrandt admired and collected in print form.

Portrait of Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh

93

Painter · 1853 – 1890

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose intense color, expressive brushwork, and emotional depth made him one of the most influential artists in Western history, though he found little recognition in his own lifetime.

  • The Starry Night
  • Sunflowers

Why A later Dutch painter who revered Rembrandt as a supreme master of his nation's art.

Portrait of Michelangelo

Michelangelo

95

Artist · 1475 – 1564

Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter and architect, one of the greatest artists in history, creator of the David, the Pietà and the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

  • The David
  • The Sistine Chapel ceiling

Why A towering earlier artist whose dramatic intensity Rembrandt's work parallels in another medium.

Portrait of Claude Monet

Claude Monet

90

Painter · 1840 – 1926

Claude Monet was a French painter and the leading founder of Impressionism, whose studies of light and atmosphere — from Impression, Sunrise to the Water Lilies — revolutionized modern painting.

  • Impressionism
  • Impression, Sunrise

Why Also a painter & artist · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

94

Painter · 1881 – 1973

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor who co-founded Cubism and ranks among the most influential and prolific artists of the twentieth century, creating works such as Guernica and Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

  • Cubism
  • Guernica

Why Also a painter & artist · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

95

Composer · 1685 – 1750

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque era whose mastery of counterpoint and harmony — in works like the Brandenburg Concertos and the Mass in B minor — made him one of the greatest composers in Western history.

  • Brandenburg Concertos
  • Mass in B minor

Why Active in the same era · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Baruch Spinoza

Baruch Spinoza

87

Philosopher · 1632 – 1677

Baruch Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of the early modern era whose rationalist masterpiece, the Ethics, advanced a radical monism identifying God with Nature and made him a foundational figure of modern thought.

  • Ethics
  • Pantheism (God or Nature)

Why From the same civilization · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of John Milton

John Milton

83

Poet · 1608 – 1674

John Milton was an English poet and political writer of the 17th century whose epic Paradise Lost is considered the greatest long poem in the English language and one of the supreme achievements of world literature.

  • Paradise Lost
  • Areopagitica

Why Active in the same era · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

92

President · 1809 – 1865

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, who led the nation through its Civil War, preserved the Union, and abolished slavery before his assassination in 1865.

  • Leading the Union in the Civil War
  • The Emancipation Proclamation

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar

Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar

88

Emperor · 1542 – 1605

Akbar was the third Mughal emperor, who expanded the empire across much of the Indian subcontinent and is remembered for his administrative reforms, religious tolerance and patronage of the arts during a long and powerful reign.

  • Expansion of the Mughal Empire
  • Religious tolerance

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace

84

Mathematician · 1815 – 1852

Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician widely regarded as the first computer programmer, who saw that Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine could go beyond calculation to manipulate symbols of any kind.

  • The first computer program
  • Visionary ideas on computing

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Adam Smith

Adam Smith

90

Economist · 1723 – 1790

Adam Smith was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher and economist, the father of modern economics, whose work The Wealth of Nations laid the foundations of free-market thought.

  • The Wealth of Nations
  • The invisible hand

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

81

Novelist · 1890 – 1976

Agatha Christie was an English writer, the best-selling novelist of all time, whose ingenious detective stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple made her the undisputed "Queen of Crime".

  • Hercule Poirot
  • Miss Marple

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Al-Khwarizmi

Al-Khwarizmi

89

Mathematician · 780 – 850

Al-Khwarizmi was a Persian mathematician and scholar of the Islamic Golden Age, the "father of algebra", whose name gave us the word "algorithm".

  • Founding algebra
  • The word 'algorithm'

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Alan Turing

Alan Turing

91

Mathematician · 1912 – 1954

Alan Turing was an English mathematician and computer scientist who founded theoretical computer science, helped break the German Enigma cipher in World War II, and pioneered the study of artificial intelligence.

  • Turing machine
  • Breaking the Enigma code

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

99

Physicist · 1879 – 1955

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics, and won the 1921 Nobel Prize.

  • Theory of relativity
  • E=mc²

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Pushkin

81

Poet · 1799 – 1837

Alexander Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright and novelist, regarded as the founder of modern Russian literature, whose verse novel Eugene Onegin and other works shaped the language and the writers who followed him.

  • Eugene Onegin
  • Boris Godunov

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

96

Military Leader · 356 BC – 323 BC

Alexander the Great was the king of Macedon who built one of the largest empires in history by his early thirties, spreading Greek culture across three continents.

  • Conquest of Persia
  • The Hellenistic Age

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt

81

Naturalist · 1769 – 1859

Alexander von Humboldt was a Prussian naturalist and explorer whose pioneering expeditions and best-selling books — including the vast Cosmos — founded modern geography and ecology and made him one of the most famous scientists and authors of his age.

  • Cosmos
  • Scientific exploration of the Americas

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas

81

Novelist · 1802 – 1870

Alexandre Dumas was a French writer whose swashbuckling historical novels — The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo — became some of the most popular and widely adapted stories in the world.

  • The Three Musketeers
  • The Count of Monte Cristo

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Anne Frank

Anne Frank

81

Diarist · 1929 – 1945

Anne Frank was a German-Dutch Jewish girl whose diary, written while hiding from the Nazis in occupied Amsterdam, became one of the most widely read accounts of the Holocaust and a lasting testament to humanity amid persecution.

  • The Diary of a Young Girl
  • Voice of the Holocaust

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov

81

Writer · 1860 – 1904

Anton Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short-story writer — and a practising physician — widely regarded as among the greatest masters of both the short story and modern drama, whose plays like The Cherry Orchard transformed the theatre.

  • The Cherry Orchard
  • The Seagull

Why Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Archimedes

Archimedes

94

Mathematician · 287 BC – 212 BC

Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and inventor, widely regarded as the greatest mathematician of antiquity and a founder of mathematical physics and engineering.

  • Archimedes' principle
  • Calculating pi

Why Comparable historical impact