Related external works: different version

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn: Selbstbildnis, auf eine steinerne Mauer lehnend, Radierung und Kaltnadel, 1639, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn: Selbstbildnis, auf eine steinerne Mauer lehnend, Radierung und Kaltnadel, 1639, The British Museum, London

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn: Selbstbildnis, auf eine steinerne Mauer lehnend, Radierung (erster Zustand), 1639, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Self-Portrait leaning on a stone sill, 1639

Platte / Stein: 206 x 162 mm
Blatt: 208 x 165 mm

Physical Description: Etching

Inventory Number: 5754

Object Number: 5754 D

Acquisition: Ancient Holdings (Collections J. F. Städel or J. G. Grambs)

Status: Not on display

Texts

About the Work

In 1639 Rembrandt portrayed himself as a self-confident and successful artist. Opulently dressed, his beret worn at an angle, he leans casually on a stone wall, gazing openly at the public. He elegantly joins his great predecessors Raphael and Titian by quoting two of their paintings - Raphael's 'Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione' (today in the Louvre) and a portrait by Titian known as 'Ariosto' (London, National Gallery) - which Rembrandt saw in Amsterdam during the spring of 1639. From the Venetian role model, Rembrandt adopted the link between pictorial space and viewing space by means of the arm resting on the balustrade and, from the Roman portrait, the spirited attention focused on the viewer.