Rembrandt van Rijn, A young man seated at a table (possibly Govaert Flinck), c. 1660 by Natasja Tollenaar

About "Rembrandt van Rijn, A young man seated at a table (possibly Govaert Flinck), c. 1660"

by Natasja Tollenaar

About the artwork

From the hips up, a young man with pale skin and black clothing sits with his body tilted to the right as he turns to look at us in this vertical portrait painting. He looks out with green eyes under hooded eyelids. Light falls across his face from the upper left, so that his puffy nose casts a shadow on his high cheekbone. He has a thin moustache over full, pink lips, which are slightly parted. His hair falls to his shoulders in chestnut brown curls, framing his slim face. Two silver tassels hang from cords of a high, wide, flat, bright white collar, which contrasts with the velvet black of his voluminous, long-sleeved coat. His left hand, further away from us, rests on his knee and the other hand is curled so that the back of his knuckles presses against his right hip, closer to us. A spot of crimson near that hand could be a cushion on his chair. His hat rests, presumably on a table, just past his legs. The hat has a tall, tapered, conical crown with a flat top. The shadowy wall behind him is flecked with slate grey and caramel brown, with a slightly darker panel to suggest a shallow alcove.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (Leiden, 15 July 1606 - Amsterdam, 4 October 1669) was a Dutch painter, etcher and draughtsman. He is widely considered one of the greatest painters and etchers in European art, and the most important Dutch master of the 17th century. His work belongs to the Baroque period and is visibly influenced by Caravaggism. His remarkable mastery of the play of light and dark, often using sharp contrasts (chiaroscuro) to draw the viewer into the scene, led to vivid scenes full of drama.