His use of artifice and costumes not only celebrates a historical genre but also anticipates a future in which identity is something created by the artist, and humanity is expressed by everyday people. Having weathered the deaths of many of his closest friends and family members in the midst of financial ruin, he stood before the mirror and painted himself.

Self-portraits from the later period are particularly impressive. Taken together these four paintings show Rembrandt’s brilliant skill as a painter, especially as a painter of people, as well as his deep knowledge of historical subjects and art history. In Rembrandt’s self-portraits, he closely monitors the passage of time. She is clearly directing her gaze elsewhere, but to whom or to what? While the image is a “portrait” of a young woman, it also gives the subject herself agency. This and other stylistic considerations are. Rembrandts paintings are autobiographical, tracing the phases of his life that constantly affected his stability.

At the same time, she looks askance, her face half-shrouded in darkness. Rembrandts portraits generally do not show such markedly different techniques in the face and the costume. One of the Dutch golden age artists, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn’s portraits depict angst, melancholy and emotional turbulence of humankind. Buy as Posters, Framed Prints, Canvas Prints and Large Art Prints. Placing her hands firmly on the wooden ledge in front of her, she creates a physical barrier between herself and the viewer. Buy artworks of the famed Old Master- Rembrandt Paintings.

However, in the Art Institute’s painting, the woman does not directly acknowledge us as a dear friend or valued customer but rather leans forward out of the door and, seemingly, out of the picture plane. Rembrandt - Portrait of a seated woman with a book and spectacles.jpg 1,517 × 1,920 230 KB. Rembrandt - Portrait of a Seated Old Woman with Clasped Hands - 1661.jpg 641 × 768 87 KB. Rembrandt - Oval Portrait of a Young Woman in Flat Lace Collar.jpg 639 × 869 72 KB. Paintings in which the subject greets the viewer at a shop or house door are not uncommon indeed they date back to the Renaissance. Rembrandt - Head of an Aged Woman.jpg 997 × 1,200 266 KB. Costuming plays less of a role in Young Woman at an Open Half-Door by Rembrandt and his workshop instead it is the way in which the young woman interacts with the viewer that complicates the work.

Rembrandt portraits