At the time of the failure of the 'Night Watch,' his wife Saskia died, leaving him their little son, Titus, a beautiful child.
Through ever-darkening days, for the next fifteen years, he continued to paint with increasing power.

It is to this later period that our picture of the 'Man in Armour' belongs.
[Illustration: A MAN IN ARMOUR From the picture by Rembrandt, in the Corporation Art Gallery, Glasgow] The picture is not a portrait, but rather a study of light upon armour.
No man came to Rembrandt and asked to be painted like that; but Rembrandt saw in his mind's eye a great effect--a fine knightly face beneath a shadowing helmet and set off against a sombre background.
A picture such as this is a work of the imagination in the same sense as the 'Saint George and the Dragon' of Tintoret.

It was an effect that only Rembrandt could see, painted as only he could paint it.

The strongest light falls upon the breastplate, the next strongest upon the helmet, and the ear-ring is there to catch another gleam.

When you look at the picture closely, you can see that the lights are laid on (we might almost say 'buttered on') with thick white paint.