Girl at a Window Jean-Antoine by Both himself

by Both himself

courtesan and historical figure

between 1638 and 1641

but his special status - he was already an established master in his own right - is demonstrated by the fact that he did not scruple to 'improve' the composition to suit his own ideas

Girl at a Window Jean-Antoine by Both himselfPainted in 1645 when Rembrandt was thirty nine, the painting has always been the subject of speculation and conflicting interpretations. A frequently quoted account by the French art theorist and early owner of the work, Roger de Piles (1635 1709), of passers by seeing it in a window and mistaking it for a real flesh and blood girl, is probably more of a general comment on Rembrandt's ability to seduce his viewers with an illusion than a strictly