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Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Dutch, 1606-1669, b. Leiden, Netherlands
Portrait of a Young Man, 1666
Oil on canvas
Unframed: 32 1/8 x 25 3/8 inches (81.6 x 64.45 cm)
Framed: 39 3/8 x 36 x 3 1/4 inches (100.01 x 91.44 x 8.26 cm)
Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust, 31-75
Location: Gallery P17
Rembrandt was a painter, draftsman and etcher, and is considered to be the greatest of 17th-century Dutch artists. He was a master at manipulating the expressive potential of light and shadow, and his numerous portraits show a profound observation of character. Here, Rembrandt focuses our attention on this unidentified sitter’s face by framing his head with a warm semicircle of light and crisp white collar. His gaze is directed at us with the confidence characteristic of his youth. The sitter’s informal beret perhaps indicates that he is a student, a recent graduate or even an aspiring artist. Rembrandt has used the butt end of his brush to make incisions in the still-wet paint of the hair to provide a richer sense of texture.
