The Windmill

Rembrandt often recorded common views of Amsterdam and its outskirts in his prints. The artist tellingly conveys the atmosphere of the sites using simple visual devices. Traditionally it was believed that this was a mill owned by Rembrandt’s father, but this is probably just a legend. Rembrandt placed partially obscured human forms in the landscape: a man by the ladder to the mill, a woman further away by the house, and a couple on a slight rise in the background. The craquelure in the sky, which appears in all impressions, was possibly the result of a technical defect.