Copyright by Laura Mareike Sager 2006 - The University of Texas at ...

Rembrandt has aged considerably, that further interpretive ekphrasis of self
portraits occur in the film. Throughout the last sequence, Charles Laughton
resembles both Rembrandt’s Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul, and his last Self
Portrait in the Mauritshuis. We first see “Rembrandt” out on the streets, buying a
herring from a fishmonger, barely able to pay for it. He is wearing a large white
turban, from which locks of grayish white hair fall out as in both of these
paintings (although the turban in the Mauritshuis painting also has hues other than
white), and he has a similarly wistful and contemplative expression as in these
two paintings. However, while the Rembrandt of his last self portrait simply
wears inconspicuous, ordinary clothes, the film emphasizes “Rembrandt’s”
poverty through his old, ragged coat and a camera-pan that reveals his shabby,
worn-out shoes. As he eats his herring, a group of young, merry people arrives in
a wagon, ready to celebrate and enjoy themselves. While he is watching and
listening to these young people, who turn out to be young painters and their
beautiful girlfriends, the camera focuses on “Rembrandt” twice in a close-up of
his amused face and a medium shot of his torso, both times imitating poses typical
of (self) portraits.
But in spite of the allusion to Rembrandt’s two late self portraits with the
contemplative, perhaps even self-searching look, the “Rembrandt” of this mise-
en-scène is content to rejoice in others’ happiness. As he tells the young man
when the group addresses him, he is amused because he “see[s] a sight that warms
[his] old heart.” By thus using these two late self portraits to demonstrate the
artist’s peace with the world and merriment about the joy of others, the film goes
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