An old Beggar Woman with a Gourd (B., Holl. 168; H. 80)

Beggars appear often in Rembrandt's early figure studies. They had, of course, been portrayed in the earlier work of Bosch and Brueghel, but were generally viewed as objects of derision rather than examples of human suffering. Rembrandt was fascinated by the humanity and diverse experiences expressed in the faces and physiognomy of the elderly, the destitute and the wandering beggars who lived on the fringes of society and were readily found in Leyden and Amsterdam. His figures possess greater naturalism and personality; they constitute a humanity of suffering individuals rather than symbolic embodiments of strife.