|
The painting depicts the head and shoulders of an old bearded man. The fanciful studies from life, often exotically costumed, that Lievens, Rembrandt, and their followers painted in large numbers are not portraits as such and are known as tronies, the term for them that was in use at least by 1630. Those depicting old bearded men are sometimes known generically as prophets; here old age is associated with wisdom, not folly.
|
