Philemon and Baucis

Rembrandt signed and dated this small dark panel in 1658, the very years the Amsterdam courts were selling off his fine house and the great collection of art and curiosities he had bankrupted himself buying. The picture tells one of Ovid's stories. Two travellers are given shelter by a poor elderly couple, Philemon and Baucis, who set out what little they have, and only when the wine jug keeps filling itself do the hosts realise their guests are gods in disguise. Rembrandt lights the whole scene from that discovery, a warm glow gathering on the old faces and the modest table while the corners of the room fall away into brown shadow.