Old Man

The well-lined face with beard, sparse hair and cautious look is part of a series of half-length studies that Jan Lievens painted around 1625. During his Leiden period, Lievens collaborated closely with Rembrandt, presumably sharing his studio with the young master. Particularly striking is the stylistic and thematic proximity of this early painting to the contemporaneous works of Rembrandt. The reduced range of colours already announces the stylistic transformation in Lieven’s work that occurred around 1628.