This woman, said to be leaning against a door, is often thought to be Hendrickje Stoffels, Rembrandt's long-time lover and companion.1 The face, a leitmotif in the artist's work, is probably meant to represent her even if it was not a perfect likeness. Wives and lovers have often been used in art as a mirror-like reflection of the male artist, the other gender that makes their mind androgynous along with a woman's power to literally conceive the artist's off-spring.