The allusion is to Zeuxis, the Ancient Greek painter who died laughing while portraying an old harridan. Perhaps the most profound of all is a portrait Rembrandt painted in the year of his death. Wearing a costume with 15th-century overtones and looking sick, the artist nervously clasps his hands. He turns his head to give the viewer a weak smile of dignity. The interrogation here has given way to certainty.
Light comes from above to touch the face and the hands as darkness gathers on the right hand side.
Thus did the towering genius of European art bid farewell to his worldly envelope.