Hendrickje Bathing is a real painting, and the fact that it depicts Rembrandt’s lover makes Howard naturally consider Kiki. The novel ends ambiguously and does not offer any definitive resolution about Howard and Kiki’s relationship. What is clear is that Howard, who famously never much cared for paintings of humans, seems to notice something in this Rembrandt painting that he never noticed before. This is potentially a problem, since Howard has dedicated his life to a book about Rembrandt’s shortcomings as a painter, and now Howard seems to finally be appreciating one of Rembrandt’s paintings. Perhaps this leads to an epiphany, or perhaps it's just to another blip in Howard’s life before he returns to his old ways.