Google has used its search page doodle to celebrate the 407th anniversary of the birth, in Leyden, Holland, of the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, The Independent said.

Widely recognised as one of the greatest and most humane of all portraitists, Rembrandt produced such famous works as The Night Watch (1642) and The Anatomy Lesson of Nicholaes Tulp (1632).

He was a success during his lifetime, but lived beyond his means, and was bured in an unmarked grave.

However, it is his collection of self-portraits, painted over the whole of his working life - up to the year of his death, at the age of 63 - that is generally considered his most enduring legacy.

And indeed it is one of his self-portraits, 1659's Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned Up Collar, that features on the Google Doodle - thought quite why the background, with the search engine's name etched into it, looks like it's made out of slab of chocolate, is unclear.