Bald Old Man with a Short Beard, Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1635
etching, h 66mm × w 56mm More details
The numerous old men that Rembrandt etched in his early years in Leiden will have regularly posed for him while seated in a chair. This is rarely visible in his prints, but is so in this one. The shabbily attired old man with a patchy beard and bony hands stands out slightly against the large armchair in which he sits. This chair lends him an air of near biblical grandeur.
