Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (born Leiden 1606 - died Amsterdam 1669).
"The subject of this large, dramatic painting from the artist's mature period is Saint Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles. The apostle, flayed alive for his beliefs, holds in his right hand a butcher's knife, a symbol of his martyrdom. The saint's slightly unsettled pose and expression of deep thought suggest that he is contemplating his own demise. Rembrandt conveys a mood of introspection in his late works-in contrast to his earlier, more theatrical pictures-and renders light, textures, and the sense of form in space with complex schemes of loose brushwork and glazes."
--from "Saint Bartholomew, 1657" in Timken Museum of Art website. San Diego, Calif.: Timkem Museum of Art, © 2013.
(Included in the Timkem Museum of Art's web-page for this painting are both an authoritative background listing of provenance and further research references).