# Old Rabbi \(detail\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on wood ## Commentary The seated figure of a wise old man is outlined against an obscure background, his face and hands brightly illuminated by the light from a candle. It is a pose frequently seen in seventeenth-century portraits and one frequently used by Rembrandt himself. Although this is a portrait from life, the treatment of the subject evokes a biblical atmosphere. The picture is almost allegorical: the old man's attitude of meditation symbolizes the ephemeral nature of man's intellect. The light shining on his face is echoed in the glow from the back and the copper candlestick, familiar objects that give a feeling of warm intimacy. The picture was painted in the same year as the famous Night Watch. ## Related artworks - [A black drummer and commander mounted on mules; riding in profile]() - [A child being taught to walk]() - [A cottage beneath trees]() - [A girl sleeping]() - [A Man Laughing]() - [A man making water]() - [A Peddler Selling Spectacles \(The Allegory of Sight\)]() - [A Polish Nobleman]() - [A Scholar]() - [A two-humped camel]() - [A woman in Zeeland costume, from the back]() - [A woman in Zeeland costume, from the front]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()