Rijksmuseum

Bedelaar, zittend op een heuveltje

Date

1630

Medium

paper

Institution

Rijksmuseum

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.

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