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Marked by the strain of a life full of cares, the old master turns to the viewer in a particularly dignified full frontal attitude. The asymmetry of composition in Tintoretto's early self-portrait has given way here to physiognomical asymmetry. The hair on the artist's head, still thick, is smoother now, but the bushy beard seems to be wind-blown as if by the breath of Fate. The light, falling almost vertically from above, suggests a metaphysical reference, also reflected in the stillness of the picture: the lips seem to be seated beneath the silvery beard, and the ears are almost invisible too.
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