Simeon's Song of Praise

Joseph and Mary are in the temple to dedicate their newborn baby Jesus to God, where the child is recognised by Simeon as the long-awaited Messiah. The old man takes him in his arms and bursts into a song of praise. The divine light that floods Simeon appears to be shining from the child himself.

When Rembrandt painted this scene, he was twenty-five and still living in Leiden. He moved to Amsterdam in the same year, where he started to paint much larger works and made portraits for the first time.