At the Washington National Gallery I saw two portraits, one by Franz Hals, the other, Rembrandt.

Frans Hals (Dutch, c. 1582/1583 – 1666), Portrait of a Man, 1648/1650, oil on canvas, Widener Collection 1942.9.28

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606 – 1669), Man with a Sheet of Music, 1633, oil on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection) 2014.136.41

The subjects gaze with equanimity to the viewer, calm, composed, present, the presentation by artists unspoiled by having never seen a photograph. And as well, the subjects presenting the sense they have of themselves, undiluted by celebrity.

The world was young, every picture fresh. Old we all are now, surfeit of experience.