Faces that have been lived in

A face that has been “lived in”. It’s an expression that brings a smile of recognition and warmth. Growing older has its drawbacks, but maybe there are compensations too.

Rembrandt’s white elephant

In July 1633 the Dutch East India Company sent seven ships from Batavia (present-day Jakarta) to Amsterdam. They were laden with sacks of peppercorns, 25,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain, a tiger and a female albino elephant. The animals were put on public display and the elephant’s name was Hansken.

In Rembrandt’s footsteps

The Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Amsterdam dates back to 1250. In later years it was enlarged and dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of seamen and – oddly – of bakers. It is one of a few places in Amsterdam where one can trace the footsteps of the great painter Rembrandt van Rijn.

The road not taken (I)

Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem The Divine Comedy begins with the lines “Midway upon the road of our life / I found myself within a dark wood / for the right way had been missed” (in Charles Eliot Norton’s version) – perhaps the best known lines in western literature. Writers and artists often use the allegory of taking the right or wrong road to explore life’s confusions and conundrums.

Rembrandt’s windmill

It was long thought that Rembrandt van Rijn was born in a windmill. It’s not true, although he was the son of a miller and – logically enough – a baker’s daughter.