Portrait of a Rabbi
Rembrandt painted several pictures of Rabbis. In this one, Rembrandt dispenses with the accessories and gestures which are common in his earlier portraits. The body is only vaguely indicated, nothing distracts our attention from the face.
Rembrandt is most noted for his portraits and his ability to capture and portray the subject’s physical and spiritual being. You can see this in the Rabbi’s face and dark, sad eyes. Rembrandt lived in the Jewish section of Amsterdam and painted many scenes from the Old Testament.
Rembrandt painted the original in 1657 and it hangs in the National Gallery of Art in London.
Pastel on paper 1978