Young Girl in a Gold-Trimmed Cloak

The winsome young girl portrayed here, with frizzy blond hair and distinctive features, looks at the viewer with a somewhat undefined expression, as though turning over a thought before speaking. This image was not a commissioned portrait, but an imaginative character study, or tronie, based on a model who posed for Rembrandt a number of other times in the early 1630s, shortly after the artist had settled in Amsterdam. He depicted the play of light and shadow across the girl’s ivory-like skin and pleated white blouse, further enlivening the figure by portraying one pearl earring in light and the other in shadow.

To learn more about this painting click on the link below.