ANNA ACCUSED BY TOBIT OF STEALING THE KID

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Housed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, this 1626 canvas concerns the Apocryphal Book of Tobit, in which Tobit, the rich, God-fearing Jew is depicted with his wife Anna. According to the story, Tobit was so strict in his observance of the Mosaic law, he had lost all his money and been blinded by an accident. To keep them both from starving, Anna had taken in work sewing and washing. However, when Tobit heard on one occasion the bleating of a kid, which Anna had been given to supplement her earnings, he falsely accused her of its theft. In the canvas, Rembrandt depicts the moment when she upbraids him for his self-righteousness and their sorry plight. Holding the detected kid, Anna towers dominantly above Tobit, who submissively grips his hands in apology.

Begun shortly after he had set up as an independent artist in Leiden in 1625, the painting is a master class in realist depiction, clearly exemplifying what would become one of the artist’s lifelong interests: the portrayal of old people.  He faithfully depicts the lines and wrinkles on the couple’s faces and skin with distinct clarity, conveying their advanced age by the awkward poses of the subjects’ bodies.  The canvas is notable for its ultra smooth brushstrokes, which separately are hardly visible, boasting a palette of colours that are warm and bright, with even lighting. The image is littered with still-life details, which are common conventions in the works of Dutch masters, though it is unlikely Rembrandt intended his props to have any symbolic meaning. Instead, each depicted object adds to the high degree of authenticity created by the image, depicting the interior as realistically as possible.