Late Period
Rembrandt’s greatest paintings were created during the last two decades of his life. Baroque drama, outward splendor, and superficial details no longer mattered to him. Rembrandts self-portraits, portrayals of single figures and groups, and historical and religious works reveal a concern with mood and with spiritual qualities. Rembrandts palette grew richly coloristic and his brushwork became increasingly bold; he built thick impastos that seem miraculously to float over the canvas. In Portrait of the Painter in Old Age (1669?, National Gallery, London), Rembrandt’s features betray a slightly sarcastic mood. One of his finest single portraits (1654, Stichting Jan Six, Amsterdam) is that of Jan Six. Six, wearing a deeply colored red, gold, and gray costume, is shown putting on a glove. The portrait is painted in a semi-abstract style that demonstrates Rembrandt’s daring technical bravura. Six’s quiet, meditative mood is expressed by the subtle play of light on his face. In such late biblical works as Potiphar’s Wife Accusing Joseph (1655, Staatliche Museen, Berlin-Dahlem), and the very moving Return of the Prodigal San (1669?, the Hermitage) Rembrandt concentrated on the inherent psychological drama rather than on the excitement of the narrative as he had in works of his early period. In general, after his early period, Rembrandt was not particularly interested in allegorical and mythological subjects.