(1660). Titus grew up in what is now
Rembrandthuis. Around 1643,
Geertje Dircx was hired as his caretaker and dry nurser. In May 1649 she and Rembrandt quarreled, probably as a consequence of Rembrandt's new relationship with
Hendrickje Stoffels. At age 14, in 1655, a year of
plague, Titus made a will at his father's insistence, making his father sole heir, shutting out his mother's family. In 1656 Rembrandt "assigned" his share in the house to Titus just four weeks prior to the application for
cessio bonorum. After Rembrandt's bankruptcy, Rembrandt lost the guardianship of his son and thus control over his actions. A new guardian, Louis Crayers, claimed the house in settlement of Titus's debt. By February 1658, Rembrandt's house was sold at a
foreclosure auction, and the family moved from
Jodenbreestraat to more modest lodgings at
Rozengracht. The authorities and his creditors were generally accommodating to Rembrandt but he could not sell anything without their knowledge. To get around this, Hendrickje and Titus set up a
dummy corporation as art dealers in 1660, with Rembrandt who had
board and lodging, to continue his artistic pursuits. In 1661, they secured a contract for a major project at the newly completed
town hall. The resulting work,
The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, painted outside the house, was rejected by
the mayors and returned to the painter within a few weeks; the surviving fragment (in Stockholm) is only a quarter of the original. When Hendrickje died in July 1663 Titus assumed a more prominent role. In 1665 he was
declared adult to handle his affairs, while Rembrandt struggled with rent arrears. Titus was the largest and
preferential creditor of his father, meaning that, if Rembrandt went insolvent, Titus became the first person to be paid off, before any other creditors could step in. In 1662 one of Rembrandt's creditors went to the
High Court as he didn't accept Titus had to be paid first. Isaac van Hertsbeeck lost twice and had to pay back the money he had already received to Titus, which he did in 1668. In the end it was especially
Cornelis Jan Witsen who profited from the sale at the expense of Titus. ==Marriage and death==