Painted in 1659, the year after his house and possessions were auctioned to pay his debts, this portrait shows Rembrandt meeting his own gaze without vanity or self-pity. The pose echoes Raphael's portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, but the face, built from dense and searching strokes of paint, is entirely his own.

Self-Portrait

In this tale from Ovid's Metamorphoses, the gods Jupiter and Mercury reveal themselves to the poor elderly couple who have shared their humble meal, just as the pair try to sacrifice their only goose for their guests. Rembrandt silhouetted Mercury against a hidden light whose glow falls on Jupiter and the table, giving a classical myth the hushed atmosphere of a religious scene.

Philemon and Baucis

The Roman noblewoman Lucretia, violated by the king's son, holds the dagger with which she will take her own life, her open hand and brimming eyes conveying grief and resignation rather than violence. Rembrandt worked her golden gown with brush and palette knife, letting the thick, glittering paint contrast with the quiet devastation of her face.

Lucretia

Breaking with tradition, Rembrandt set the circumcision of the infant Christ in a humble stable and placed him in the arms of his mother, Mary, linking this first shedding of blood to the Crucifixion to come. The painting passed to the dealer Lodewijck van Ludick as part of a settlement of Rembrandt's debts, a reminder of how closely art and money were entwined in his final years.

The Circumcision

Painted as one of a pair with the Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan, this prosperous gentleman looks out at us while gesturing toward his companion, and both sitters are lit from exactly the same angle. In 1919 Prince Felix Yusupov smuggled the two portraits out of revolutionary Russia, selling them two years later to the American collector Joseph Widener.

Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves

Wrapped in fur and hung with heavy gold chains, this bold figure is probably not a portrait of a particular nobleman but one of the exotic character types Rembrandt loved to paint in the 1630s. Once owned by Catherine the Great, the panel shows off the glinting gold, soft fur and weathered skin that made him one of the most sought-after painters in Amsterdam.

A Polish Nobleman

With one hand on his hip and the other resting near his tall hat, this stylish young man turns to meet our gaze in what the National Gallery of Art calls one of Rembrandt's most sympathetic late portraits. He may be Govaert Flinck, Rembrandt's former pupil turned rival, who died suddenly in February 1660 at the height of his fame.

A Young Man Seated at a Table (possibly Govaert Flinck)

The companion to the Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves, this unidentified woman glances toward his portrait and tilts her fan in his direction. Her billowing white ostrich feather, gold bracelets and broad lace collar are built from quick, heavily loaded strokes that shimmer against the dark background.

Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan

Rather than his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, Rembrandt shows Paul in a moment of inward struggle, pausing over his letters with his head in his hand as the sword of his martyrdom hangs beside him. Technical study suggests the canvas began as a scholar in his study, which Rembrandt transformed into the apostle he seems to have felt a deep personal bond with.

The Apostle Paul

Her black cap suggests that this formidable sitter was in mourning, and her wide ruff and the Bible in her lap mark her as a devout, conservative member of Dutch society. Rembrandt probably painted her face and hands himself, then left the costume, chair and background for an assistant in his busy studio to complete.

The Gallery