Self-Portrait

Rembrandt painted this self-portrait in 1652 at the age of forty-six, dressed in a painter's smock with both hands on his hips and facing the viewer head-on. The date falls at the beginning of the financial troubles that would culminate in bankruptcy later in the decade, and the deliberately unadorned clothing — no costume, no chain of office, just a dark tunic and a red beret — reads as a statement of artisanal self-respect. The triangular composition, dramatic frontal lighting, and piercing gaze distil the lifelong project of self-examination that runs through Rembrandt's nearly eighty self-portraits.

Exhibition Venue

Kunsthistorisches Museum

Vienna, Austria