How might Rembrandt’s study of oratory have helped his paintings?

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Rembrandt: Self-Portrait — Rembrandt *Self-Portrait*, oil on canvas by Rembrandt, 1659; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Rembrandt’s early education at the Latin School in Leiden included a focus on oratory skills, which likely influenced his artistic practice.12

Scholars suggest that this training in rhetoric may have contributed to his ability to effectively "stage" the figures within his history paintings, drawings, and etchings. By applying the principles of oratory—the art of persuasive and expressive public speaking—to his compositions, Rembrandt was able to choreograph gestures, glances, and movements to create dramatic, narrative scenes that feel both dynamic and psychologically intense.23