Beggar Seated on a Bank, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1630
etching, h 116mm × w 70mm More details
This beggar extends his hand for alms and calls out to us. Quite surprisingly, Rembrandt gave this figure his own face. Whether by doing so he identified with the world’s outcasts is unclear. What is certain is that Rembrandt depicted them often in these early years, and unlike his colleagues he did so without scorn or ridicule.
