Rembrandt’s ability to see in a person and reveal the stories of his life is amazing. He approaches his subjects with wonder, using the brush to lead him to the soul of each subject. Just look at his early series of the five senses, the “Allegory of the Senses” paintings: character studies of quack doctors examining their patients. Painted when he was only 18, these works show not only his brilliant, controlled skill with paint and color but his subjects are remarkably individual, their facial expressions complex, humorous and meaningful. In Unconscious Patient (Sniff Image)each character tells a rich and detailed story. A patient is unconscious, an elderly nurse tries to revive him with smelling salts, while a surgeon looks on, wearing gold chains and a richly decorated coat with pearl buttons. His cheeks and nose are red as if he likes his drink. A wonderful painting, like the other two, The allegory of Touch again The allegory of Hearingit is currently on view at the Norton Museum.
These three paintings belong to Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan and his wife Daphne as part of the Leiden Collection, named after Rembrandt’s birthplace. Over the past two decades, they have bought 220 paintings and drawings, focusing on Dutch painters of the 17th century. And it doesn’t end there. Their collection acts as a “lending library” with the aim of having the work seen by people around the world. Since 2017, selections from the Leiden Collection have been exhibited in museums: the Louvre in Paris, Beijing and Shanghai, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Louvre Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam. (Kaplan is the founder and former executive chairman of Panthera, a global leader in big cat conservation, and is being auctioned off by Sotheby’s powerful Rembrandt painting, The Resting Lionon February 4, 2026, in Master Works on Paper from five centuries of sales. Pre-sale estimate is $15-20 million; all proceeds will go to Panthera.)
This West Palm Beach showroom is elegant and reserved, with deep burgundy walls and tasteful labels. There are 11 thematic categories. The first is the musicians in their studios, with their instruments and books. Other categories are daily life, card games, music and historical paintings depicting biblical stories, myths and legends. A wonderful painting by Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt’s pupil, is of an Old Testament story. Hagar and the Angel—only one of the five chronicles of Fabritius survives. His life and work were destroyed by the tragic explosion of a gun in Delft in 1654. Fabritius catches a bright moment when an angel appears to answer a mother’s anguished plea for her suffering child. The light on the face and dress of the angelic creature highlights the woman’s white pants, folded hands and crying face. The work shows the greatness that blossomed in the artist at an unfortunately young age, only 32 years old.
Rembrandt painted more than 50 self-portraits, a biography and an ongoing study of self-analysis. This self-examination helped him to see his subjects more deeply. In the Norton show, there is Selfie with Shaded Eyeshe was painted when he was only 23 years old. Through his portraits of elderly men and women, you can feel the weight of the years they carry and the drama of longevity. The Old Man’s Beardpainted when Rembrandt was 27 years old, it is filled with such tenderness, almost love, that it can bring tears to your eyes.
There are so many works involved in this show: 70 of 27 musicians. Rembrandt’s magisterial painting framed by arched burgundy curtains, Minerva in Her Study1635. Another virtue was the purity of charity A Little Girl in a Gold Trimmed Coat1632, the hem of her coat with gold earrings and auburn curls. Other important Dutch artists from that time are represented: Jan Steen, Frans van Mieris, Frans Hals and others. Jan Lievens’s self-portraits are another marvel. Painted when he was 22, it’s hard to believe that someone so young could express himself so deeply in a painting. The slightly parted lips, the first red color of the moustache, the long wild hair, his almost frightened eyes, all show the confusion of youth. Another unique work by Vermeer, A Little Girl Sits on a Young Girl—the only example of the artist’s work in private hands.
The Dutch Golden Age of painting was achieved in part because the Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602 and the West East India Company in 1621, enabled the empire to expand through their naval fleets. The year 2025 marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of the island of Manhattan by the Dutch, who named it New Amsterdam. The journey taken by these Dutch paintings. Countries, hands they pass through, ships, trains, planes, money exchanged, purchases, scholarships, copies, returns, fame. The subjects in the pictures will be amazed and the artists will be millions. We are not lucky that they join us.
“Art and Life in Rembrandt’s Time: Works of Art from The Leiden Collection” is at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach until March 29, 2026.
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