DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68073#0241
DUTCH PAINTING
215
In his later period, where his old men bear so much of a resemblance
to each other, it was not necessary that Rembrandt should always
use the same models. The character, however, of this Simeon is akin
to that of St. Matthew in the Louvre, to the father in the Prodigal Son
in Petrograd, to the man behind Pilate in the picture in New York,
Altman Collection, and to the Haman in the Collection of the King of
Roumania.
“For the rest, the peculiar expression of Simeon’s rugged and full
bearded countenance can be traced quite easily in that dark, majestic
etching of the Presentation in the Temple with the exception that the
head in the etching leans slightly more backward. Simeon’s expres-
sion depicts in a striking manner the decrepit old man to whom the
divine revelation was made, and who, after walking into the Temple,
seeing the Child and taking Him into his arms, said: ‘ Lord, now lettest
Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine
eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the
face of all people: A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of
Thy people, Israel.’ Luke II, 29-32.
“The hermit-like old man wears a wide gold-colored leather mantle.
Full of devotion he is holding the Christ Child, without touching Him
with his long and stiffened hands.
“The little face appears foreshortened and recalls to one’s mind the
strange drawing of the uplifted face of the young Jesus where he walks
between his parents in that remarkable etching of the Return from the
Temple. Close to Simeon and behind, stands Mary, the inclination
of the head and attitude identical with the Virgin in the etching of
the Presentation. Over her head she wears a wide, drooping hood,
and the greater part of her face—a face of no ordinary maternity
and with something of the grandeur so characteristic in Mantegna’s
Madonnas—is deeply enveloped in shadows. In contrast with the
bronze-like, warm color of the ancient man, she appears cool in tone,
the neck only illuminated like enamel against the sombre purple of
her frock.
“The group is composed without any additional accessory to dis-
tract or allure the spectator, being placed against a background deep
215
In his later period, where his old men bear so much of a resemblance
to each other, it was not necessary that Rembrandt should always
use the same models. The character, however, of this Simeon is akin
to that of St. Matthew in the Louvre, to the father in the Prodigal Son
in Petrograd, to the man behind Pilate in the picture in New York,
Altman Collection, and to the Haman in the Collection of the King of
Roumania.
“For the rest, the peculiar expression of Simeon’s rugged and full
bearded countenance can be traced quite easily in that dark, majestic
etching of the Presentation in the Temple with the exception that the
head in the etching leans slightly more backward. Simeon’s expres-
sion depicts in a striking manner the decrepit old man to whom the
divine revelation was made, and who, after walking into the Temple,
seeing the Child and taking Him into his arms, said: ‘ Lord, now lettest
Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine
eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the
face of all people: A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of
Thy people, Israel.’ Luke II, 29-32.
“The hermit-like old man wears a wide gold-colored leather mantle.
Full of devotion he is holding the Christ Child, without touching Him
with his long and stiffened hands.
“The little face appears foreshortened and recalls to one’s mind the
strange drawing of the uplifted face of the young Jesus where he walks
between his parents in that remarkable etching of the Return from the
Temple. Close to Simeon and behind, stands Mary, the inclination
of the head and attitude identical with the Virgin in the etching of
the Presentation. Over her head she wears a wide, drooping hood,
and the greater part of her face—a face of no ordinary maternity
and with something of the grandeur so characteristic in Mantegna’s
Madonnas—is deeply enveloped in shadows. In contrast with the
bronze-like, warm color of the ancient man, she appears cool in tone,
the neck only illuminated like enamel against the sombre purple of
her frock.
“The group is composed without any additional accessory to dis-
tract or allure the spectator, being placed against a background deep