This figure, who wears a shabby robe and a high fur hat may indeed be a beggar, whose hands are clasped in prayer. Rembrandt explored beggars and figures on the margins of society in his paintings and etchings, perhaps influenced by French draftsman and printmaker Jacques Callot. He often cast these figures as imaginary historical characters in elaborate or exaggerated costumes, going beyond simple observation of people from the streets of Amsterdam in the 1630s.
