Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul by Rembrandt Postcard

This is a reproduction of “Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul” of 1661 by Rembrandt. This is a masterpiece of Dutch Baroque Portrait painting created when the artist was fifty-five years old. He had been discovered in 1635 having moved to Amsterdam in 1631. He had married and Rembrandt took on his first pupils. In 1635 he moved into his prominent house in an upscale district. Later in the next decade after his wife died, he began an affair with their maid whom Rembrandt married after their daughter was born. In the next decade his fortunes declined and in 1660 he was forced to sell his home. He was a few years away from bankruptcy as his years of living beyond his means were finally catching up with him. This was the beginning of the poverty which haunted him until his death in 1669. This masterpiece is an oil on canvas measuring 36 by 30 inches and is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.