Rembrandt was an extremely prolific painter in that he created numerous works. Throughout his life, he painted over 600 works and hundreds of etchings and engravings. He also completed over 2,000 drawings. One of the reasons he was so famous, even in his own time, was the high number of works he produced. Many of his works, though, were created as an attempt to get out of the debt since he was poor most of his life.

When not painting portraits, Rembrandt often focused on paintings of his wife, Biblical scenes, and landscapes. Over 100 of his total 600 paintings were portraits of various people.