Hendrickje Stoffels (1626–1663)

By 1655, when this portrait was painted, Rembrandt's world was starting to come apart. He was sliding toward the insolvency he would declare the following year, when his grand house and his collection were inventoried and sold to cover his debts. The woman here had troubles of her own. She is believed to be Hendrickje Stoffels, who came into his household as a servant and became his partner. The two never married, because under the will of his late wife Saskia he would have forfeited her legacy by taking another. In 1654 the Reformed church council had summoned Hendrickje, condemned her for living with him unwed, and barred her from communion, and she was carrying their daughter Cornelia at the time. He painted her plainly, in a warm half-light, a fur wrap slipping from one shoulder. Within a few years she and his son Titus would set up an art dealership that formally employed Rembrandt, keeping his new work beyond the reach of his creditors.