OIL PAINTING: Old Man with a Gold Chain, 1626
Throughout his career, Rembrandt painted masterful explorations of single portraits, conveying character through dramatic costumes and lighting. The old man's rocky features are here, a pattern that often appears in Rembrandt's early work, in stark contrast to his mundane attributes: a gold chain, a steel necklace, and a plumed beret. The ambitious young artist conveyed a sense of a movement in this powerful figure, which was probably painted in 1626, just after he left his native Leiden.