Head of an Old Man

Description This broadly brushed study was made in Rembrandt's workshop in the late 1630s by a student. There are other studies of this man's head from different directions. Rembrandt operated a school within his workshop, and many young men studied with him to learn his expressive style. They set up their easels in a circle around the model-perhaps a poor man from the neighborhood who had an interesting face. Rembrandt was one of the first to see the faces of the elderly, reflecting a lifetime of experience, as wonderful subjects. With loose brush strokes and selective highlighting, the painter explores the sitter's lined, weathered face.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
12/02/1975	Examination	other
12/03/1975	Examination	examined for condition

Provenance Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co., New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters