Spanning four decades, Rembrandt's inventive self-portraits record his uncompromising study of a face more remarkable for character than beauty. When he completed this painting, Rembrandt was the young master of a modest workshop in his hometown of Leiden. His move to Amsterdam and rise to international fame still lay in the future, yet his skill and originality are already apparent in this small panel. Varied brushstrokes define volume and texture; Rembrandt conveyed the strands of hair by scratching into the wet paint. At the upper right, changes just visible beneath the paint surface reveal how Rembrandt worked to perfect the shape of the beret. His silk scarf and iron gorget, a military accessory, are exotic attributes that transform the artist into a figure of fantasy.
Samuel van Hoogstraten, who studied with Rembrandt in the 1640s and wrote a manual on painting in the 1670s, recommended that artists learn to depict expression by mugging in a mirror. In this likeness, Rembrandt may well have been doing just that. The shaded eyes, the parted lips, and the low, slightly angled vantage point invite a dynamic and somewhat unsettling interaction with the viewer. This painting and others were copied and emulated by Rembrandt's followers, turning the art of self-portrayal into a specialty valued by collectors as a display of both personality and technique.
Study your emotions in front of a mirror, where you can be both performer and beholder.
-Painter Samuel Van Hoogstraten, 1678
