A pupil of Rembrandt, Hoogstraten wrote a treatise on art theory in which he explored the relationship between painting technique and spatial illusion. His specialty was trompe l’oeil, paintings that “deceive the eye” as does this one. An old man is gazing from a meticulously painted window with a stone frame. According to a tradition that is now presumed to be mistaken, the man is Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller (1579–1654), who succeeded in gaining permission for Jews to live in Vienna’s Leopoldstadt district. The picture was painted during Hoogstraten's stay in Vienna.
We present this quite pessimistic painting thanks to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
As the New Year has just started, please check out 2021 artsy paper calendars here. : )
P.S. The Dutch Golden Age is one of our favorite epochs in art history; here you can read more about Haarlem and its artists in this flourishing time!