According to Luke, the pious Simeon had been promised by God not to die until he saw the Saviour. When the infant Jesus was presented in the temple in Jerusalem, the old man recognized the Saviour and thanked God. Rembrandt creates an intimate and emotional scene with a few figures surrounded by darkness. With semi-closed eyes, the fragile old man holds the child in his arms. The painting was Rembrandt’s last; it was left unfinished at his death.