Rembrandt’s ‘Girl at a Window’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery

In this video, Tatler’s arts editor Helen Rosslyn visits London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery, and encounters Rembrandt van Rijn’s ‘Girl at a Window’.

Painted in 1645 when Rembrandt was 39, ‘Girl at a Window’ falls somewhere between genre and portraiture. The girl’s identity remains uncertain; she has been described as a courtesan, a Jewish bride or a historical or Biblical figure. Today, it is more widely accepted that she is a servant girl; her rosy, tanned complexion, along with her brown arms implies she worked outdoors.

Leaning on a ledge, she stares directly out of the painting while fiddling with her necklace, either a gold chain or a cord, like that seen around the cuffs and along the seams of her loose chemise. She also wears a small headdress, possibly a type worn in North Holland, and her hair is tied back with red string.

Such trompe l’oeil paintings, where the subject seemed to protrude out of the picture frame, became popular in the 17th century, and Rembrandt continued to use and adapt this pose throughout his career.

For more information about the painting, click here. View the original video here.

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