Leiden University, Leiden

In May 1620, aged 14, Rembrandt Hermannzoon van Rijn enrolled at the University of Leiden. The University was relatively young back then, having been founded by William, Prince of Orange, in 1575. It started as a Protestant university and was presented as a reward to the city for its resistance to the Spanish during the Eighty Years' War.

Rembrandt did not seem to have attended classes here, as they were not mandatory in the past. Curiously, the enrolled students were also granted rations of tax-free beer, which was quite an incentive.

Another curious fact is the name of Philip II of Spain, as the count of Holland, on the university foundation certificate. Leiden University became renowned during the Dutch Golden Age. Its original location was the convent of St. Barbara. It then moved, in 1577, to the Faliede Bagjin Church, and in 1581, to the convent of the White Nuns.

Today, the convent of the White Nuns houses the university museum. The university library has more than five million books, fifty thousand journals, and an extensive collection of Western and Asian manuscripts, books, prints, drawings, photos, maps, and charts.

The University does not have a central campus, but its buildings are spread over the city. As a student, Rembrandt often drew and painted university subjects. He drew inspiration from the famous university Botanical Gardens and the Anatomical Theatre, as shown in his later paintings, "Saskia as Flora" and "The Anatomy Lesson."