 During the trial, Rembrandt hired Hendrickje as a housekeeper, and she became his new mistress.Even though Hendrickje and Rembrandt never married, she became his longtime partner and remained together up till Hendrickje's death.Aplers noted the patriarchal motives underlying the 1666 painting may be Rembrandt's guilt for not marrying Hendrickje, and the displacement of his domestic life.