Rembrandt's Mother Myth and Reality

This book shows that there are in fact grounds to believe that Rembrandt used members of his direct family as models. In the seventeenth century it was common practice for artists to depict their family members. Rembrandt's mother is one of the best-known models in the history of painting. These are not portraits in the true sense, but penetrating images with religious overtones in which the old woman is usually rendered reading or praying.