Description
Old Man Shading His Eyes with His Hand finds its drama in a simple gesture. In Rembrandt’s study of about 1639, an elderly man raises his hand to shield his eyes, drawing attention to the relationship between looking and light. The gesture gives the figure a sense of immediate life, as though the viewer has encountered him in the middle of an ordinary action.
The image invites us to look closely at someone engaged in looking himself. Age, expression and the placement of the hand become the subjects of a concentrated human encounter. Rembrandt gives the modest action the interest usually reserved for a larger story. Old Man Shading His Eyes with His Hand is appealing for this economy: a familiar movement becomes a memorable study of presence and character.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Rembrandt collection.
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