Rembrandt van Rijn (Leyden, 1606 - 1669, Amsterdam)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, about 1633
Etching, 4.5 x 5 cm (1 3/4 x 1 15/16 in.)
This etching is a very small self portrait of the Dutch artist, Rembrandt. He wears a tradesman cap tipped slightly to our left. His long hair and unshaven face suggests an informal look at the artist as an ordinary working man. He looks at the viewer with an open face of confidence- His long curly dark hair drawn with countless curling strokes is swept over his left shoulder, our right. A few short dark curls can be seen coming from under his cap on our left. The light falling unevenly from our right illuminates his left cheek, nose and the brim of his cap. This allows dark and light to convey a range of textures and folds on his cap. Deep shadow envelopes his right face, our left.
Dutch Room
Commentary
<div>Only slightly larger than a postage stamp, this etching of a young Rembrandt van Rijn is one of over 300 plates created by the artist as part of his prolific printmaking career. <br /><br />Purchased at auction on 18 March 1886, this small self-portrait was the first work by Rembrandt to enter into Isabella’s collection. Isabella chose to hang it directly below a large, painted self-portrait by Rembrandt in the Dutch Room, curating a small display of the artist’s likenesses in conversation with each other. <br /><br />This work was stolen from the museum in 1990.</div>