Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Titus van Rijn, the Artist’s Son, Reading
c.1656–1657
Oil on canvas, 71.5 × 64.5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Titus van Rijn was born in 1641 and was the only one of Rembrandt‘s four children and his first wife Saskia to reach adulthood. He died in 1668, a year before his father, whose fortune he had managed. The picture is not a portrait in the strict sense; rather, the intimate situation of reading becomes the actual topic. To enhance the expression, the light is used, with which certain parts of the young man’s face as well as his hand with the book are highlighted from the darkness. (KHM)
See also:
• Rijn, Titus van (1641-1668)