Portrait of a man in a plumed hat

You might take this for a portrait of a particular gentleman, but it was never meant to be one. In 1635 Rembrandt was in his late 20s and newly successful in Amsterdam, and he often painted heads like this one, called tronies. They were not commissions but studies of expression, costume, and light, made to sell on the open market to buyers who wanted a striking face on the wall. The plumed hat and the gold-trimmed cloak are dressing-up, props from the studio rather than the man's own clothes. The face may even be partly his own, borrowed as a convenient model. Light falls across one cheek and leaves the rest in warm shadow.