This 1629

self-portrait A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

painter

Rembrandt van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

is part of the Clowes Fund Collection of the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. It is among the earliest of over 40

self-portraits by Rembrandt The dozens of self-portraits by Rembrandt were an important part of his oeuvre. Rembrandt created approaching one hundred self-portraits including over forty paintings, thirty-one etchings and about seven drawings; some remain uncertain as to ...

(possibly the first), which he produced over the course of four decades.

Description

This is a portrait of studied spontaneity. His parted lips, tilted head, and leaning posture all evoke a moment of surprise and sudden animation, crafting a more dramatic encounter with the viewer. He wears what can best be described as a costume, culled from his collection of studio attire. This includes a scarf, a cap pulled low to give Rembrandt a dramatic shadow over his brow, and a steel

gorget A gorget , from the French ' meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the ...

with a shiny, oversized rivet. Since Rembrandt never served in the militia, the gorget is sheer affectation. Although he was only twenty-three when he made this painting, Rembrandt utilized an impressive array of artistic techniques to fill it with emotion and drama. Already, his characteristic lighting and dense atmosphere are visible. He used nearly monochromatic hues and incisive brushwork, delineating individual strands of hair by scratching into the wet paint, to create this emotionally charged portrait. Studies such as this enabled him to create his later great works of art, which portray so authentically the feelings of the subjects.

Historical information

At the time of this portrait's creation, Rembrandt was still a young, uncelebrated painter in his hometown,

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

. Working as the master of his own tiny workshop, he honed his craft. Samuel van Hoogstraten, who studied with Rembrandt, later wrote a painting manual advocating self-portraiture as practice for capturing emotion, since it allowed the painter to be "both performer and beholder." Rembrandt's followers endlessly emulated his self-portraits, creating a whole subgenre eagerly sought by collectors. Another, more quotidian explanation that has been offered for Rembrandt's predilection for self-portraits is that they eliminated the need to hire a professional model, a factor that would have been especially appealing when he was a young, struggling artist.

Attribution controversy

Rembrandt often used his self-portraits as teaching aids for his students, having them produce countless copies and variants both for their own edification and because they sold quite well. There are no fewer than five copies of this particular painting, which has led to some contention regarding its attribution over the decades. Art historian Abraham Bredius, who discovered it in a castle near

Lvov Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

in 1897, first presented it as an authentic Rembrandt, but his definitive Rembrandt catalogue reversed that opinion in 1969. Other scholars weighed in on both sides, before and after a 1966 cleaning. Technical examinations including X-

radiography Radiography is an imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical radiography ("diagnostic" and "therapeu ...

in 1979 settled the matter, and the work is now accepted as Rembrandt's own. The X-radiographs revealed extensive

pentimenti A pentimento (plural pentimenti), in painting, is "the presence or emergence of earlier images, forms, or strokes that have been changed and painted over". The word is , from the verb , meaning 'to repent'. Significance Pentimenti may show that ...

where Rembrandt altered the angles of his shoulders and head, and his hat's position. This indicates that the work is an original composition, rather than a mere copy. There is further specific evidence in favor of this attribution which does not require advanced equipment to discern. The painting bears the monogram RHL, which was used by Rembrandt during his years in Leiden. These initials were added when the paint was still wet, and do not appear on any of the copies. Furthermore, this portrait includes several blemishes on Rembrandt's chin. While he himself always recorded his face with all its wrinkles and imperfections, his students tended to gloss over such evidence of humanity.

Acquisition

Dr. G.H.A. Clowes purchased this painting in 1951, ending its circulation among the noble families of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The Clowes family gave it to the IMA in 1959. It has the accession number C10063 and is currently on view in the Clowes Pavilion.

References

External links