Self-portraits by Rembrandt
Paintings, etchings, and drawings in which Rembrandt depicts himself, documenting changes in his appearance and artistic practice across his career.
Self-Portrait with Two Circles: A late Rembrandt painting showing the artist before two large circles on a wall. Its steady gaze and unfinished background make it a distinctive late self-image.
Etching: A printmaking process that uses acid to incise lines into a metal plate. Rembrandt used etching to produce many self-portraits and revise their printed states.
Rembrandt: A Dutch painter and printmaker of the seventeenth century, known for portraits, history paintings, and etchings. His career and changing circumstances provide the chronology behind the self-portraits.
Self-fashioning: The deliberate shaping of one's public identity through appearance, conduct, and representation. Costume and pose let Rembrandt present himself as both working artist and cultivated gentleman.
Self-Portrait at the Age of 34: A 1640 painting of Rembrandt in richly detailed dress, now in the National Gallery, London. Its polished costume and pose recall Renaissance portraiture while asserting Rembrandt's status.
Chiaroscuro: The use of strong contrasts between light and dark to model forms and direct attention. Rembrandt's controlled light often isolates his face against a shadowed setting.
Leiden: A Dutch city where Rembrandt was born and began his artistic career. Early self-images emerged during his formation as an ambitious young artist in Leiden.
Artist's studio: A workspace where an artist makes, studies, and sometimes displays artworks. Studio props and working clothes connect some self-images to artistic labor.
Self-Portrait with Saskia: A painting of Rembrandt seated with his wife Saskia van Uylenburgh, also known as The Prodigal Son in the Tavern. The work turns a shared domestic scene into a lively performance of identity.
Tenebrism: A style of painting that uses sharply contrasting illumination and deep shadow. Some self-portraits intensify facial expression through dramatic darkness.