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Rembrandt, born in Leyden, was not only a giant of seventeenth-century painting - he remains one of the supreme painters of the world. He never left Holland, never visited Italy, and sought no favours from foreign rulers. In his dark, simple landscapes the emphasis may fall on a windmill, the ruins of a castle, a few trees, and in the paintings with Old Testament themes, on ancient prophets, or Biblical heroines, men at war with the divine commandments, or with themselves, or with their fate. He painted the faces of eternal human tragedy: the return of the Prodigal Son, Bathsheba surrendering to her inevitable fate, Saul moved by David's psalms, and the figure of Danae offering herself to the shower of gold.
The enfeebled rabbi is sitting among his books, hands clasped, gazing into space. Wise and timeless, he can no longer feel the mortality of his body, the weight of age. He is bound to this world solely by the strength of his spirit.
Rembrandt painted this picture of sad mood in the year of the death of his wife Saskia, probably immadiately after her death.
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