An Old Man in Military Costume

Rembrandt painted An Old Man in Military Costume in 1630-31, during his years in Leiden, where he had been working since his apprenticeship with Jacob van Swanenburgh and Pieter Lastman. He was 24 years old and had been painting on his own for only about three years, but he had already developed the mastery of light and shadow that would define his career. An Old Man in Military Costume is one of the finest paintings from his Leiden period, a tronie, or character study, that shows his ability to convey emotion through the play of light on a face. The painting shows an old man wearing a military costume: a steel gorget at his neck, a red sash across his chest, and a plumed beret on his head. His face is turned to the left, illuminated by a warm light that falls from the upper right. His expression is contemplative, his eyes focused on something outside the frame, his mouth slightly open. The background is dark, which makes the face stand out in sharp relief, with the light picking out the wrinkles, the beard, and the strands of gray hair. The painting is a tronie, a Dutch term for a study of a head or a facial expression, usually based on a live model but not intended as a portrait. Tronies were a popular genre in Dutch painting, and Rembrandt was the greatest practitioner of the form. He painted dozens of tronies throughout his career, using them as a way to study the effects of light on different types of faces and to explore the range of human expression. An Old Man in Military Costume is one of the most accomplished of these studies, with the face described in a combination of precise drawing and loose, expressive brushwork. Rembrandt was born in Leiden in 1606 and spent his early career there, before moving to Amsterdam in 1631. His Leiden period is characterized by its careful observation and its subtle handling of light, qualities that are visible in An Old Man in Military Costume. The painting was made at a time when Rembrandt was beginning to attract serious attention from collectors, and it helped establish his reputation as a master of the human face. Oil on panel, 65 by 51 centimeters. Rembrandt painted with a combination of precise drawing and loose brushwork, building the face in layers of warm flesh tone. The light falls from the upper right, illuminating the left side of the face and leaving the right side in shadow. The wrinkles are described in fine lines of dark brown, with the highlights applied in thick strokes of pale yellow. The beard is painted in quick, directional strokes of gray and white, with the individual hairs suggested by the texture of the paint. The military costume is painted in thick, opaque strokes of red and gold, with the gorget described in precise strokes of silver. The background is painted in a single, dark layer of brown and black, which gives the face its sharp, focused quality. The surface has the rich, worked quality of a painting built over many sessions. The vertical format and warm palette make this print work well in a study, dining room, or hallway. The warm browns, reds, and golden flesh tones pair with dark wood, white walls, and rooms with a traditional or serious mood. The 16x20 or 18x24 size gives the face room to read. The painting has a powerful, intimate quality that suits rooms with a quiet or contemplative mood. This is a public domain artwork from the J. Paul Getty Museum. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed.