WAITT, Richard
(active 1706-1732)

Self-Portrait

1728
Oil on canvas, 107 x 127 cm
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

This self-portrait shows the artist sitting at his easel pointing to a painting that he has just completed. The painting of the nude on his easel is probably a representation of 'sight' from the traditional series of the five senses, explaining the little hand-mirror - and, of course, the unseen mirror into which Waitt himself looks. Or perhaps the woman, who gazes towards the artist rather than her mirror, symbolises the art of portraiture itself.