One withdraws instinctively from the young artist's swagger. Any stronger, crisper background would only stand in the way. Blur and shadow matter for their own sake as well, as a refusal to tell all. They stand for a nobleman's altogether proper reserve, as exaggerated by an outsider, like an American in Henry James's Europe. The Dutch republic had mixed feelings about true nobility and plenty of shams about.
Refusal thus stands for the indescribable personality within.
Rembrandt, who identified all his life with stories from the Old Testament, knew what not to say. As Eric Auerbach put it, the Bible's silences suggest deep human conflicts and a powerful presence beyond humanity. For the artist, humanity's greatness hinges on both, and that is why Rembrandt seems modern. To attain the blur By softening Rembrandt's thin but slightly puffy face, the blurring emphasizes his youth. The man who created this amazing likeness, it says, is a prodigy.