An older man sits at a three-quarter angle to the picture plane, hands crossed in front of his chest. The slight tilt of his head imbues him with an air of contemplation and melancholy. Light falls across his white hair and wrinkled forehead from behind, illuminating the right half of his face, while a reflected light faintly hits the left side of his face. This is a beautiful example of a late study in illumination by Rembrandt van Rijn.