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REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn (b. 1606, Leiden, d. 1669, Amsterdam) |
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Self-Portraitc. 1640Oil on panel, 72 x 55 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid | |
Catalogue number: Bredius 36. Rembrandt's extensive oeuvre has been calculated at around 600 works, of which 60 are self-portraits. From 1629 until his death he depicted himself at every stage of his career, looking at himself with honesty and a growing self-analysis, during periods both of prosperity and of economic and personal crisis. This self-portrait is dated around 1643, the year after the death of his wife Saskia, at a time when Rembrandt's clients began to dwindle in number, a situation which did not recover. The artist depicts himself with a serious and meditative expression, looking directly out at the viewer. Against a dark background and dressed in a black coat edged with fur, the light is concentrated on his face, which it models in soft chiaroscuro. |
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