The Kolf Player

This is one of Rembrandt's almost bizarrely ambiguous inventions. He presents a tavern with an outdoor area for kolf, a game played with a ball and a stick that rests somewhere between field hockey and croquet. One player is about to shoot the ball, while two others seem to await their turns. The seated man in the foreground idles away in heavy shadow. What are we to make of the space? Who is inside, and who is out? Are we looking at a wall or some indication of a reverie? Whatever the case, this is one of the finest examples of this particular etching to survive.