REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn
(b. 1606, Leiden, d. 1669, Amsterdam)

Self-Portrait in Oriental Costume with Poodle

1631-33
Oil on panel, 67 x 52 cm
Musée du Petit Palais, Paris

Catalogue number: Bredius 16.

This is the last of some forty self-portraits, both etchings and paintings, which Rembrandt produced in his hometown. It is the only painted image depicting the artist full-length. The exotic dress and the spacious setting indicate that the painting was not intended as a self-portrait as such but rather as a portrait historié. In earlier paintings Rembrandt had chosen similar costumes for biblical characters in Old Testament and New Testament scenes.