Portrait of a Man (Self-Portrait?)

In the pictureAgainst a black background, a young man in a tall-crowned, wide-brimmed black hat is seen from the chest up. Brown curls cover his ears, he has a thin mustache and a little beard under the chin, and white cords with tassels hang below a broad, plain white collar. His right hand is open and laid on his chest, and in the lower left corner lies a folded sheet of paper with writing on it. Light falls only on the face, the collar, the hand and the paper. The face is turned slightly to the left, and a faint smile plays at the corners of the mouth. The black garment spreads wide from the shoulders and covers nearly the whole lower part of the picture.

BackgroundWillem Drost (1633–1659) was born in Amsterdam and trained in Rembrandt's workshop in the early 1650s; he died in Venice at about twenty-five or twenty-six, so few of his works survive. The museum gives the date as 1653 or 1655 and adds a question mark to the title: "Self-Portrait?" The picture was painted when the artist was around twenty, which fits the sitter's age, but the identification has not been confirmed. It measures 86.7 × 72.4 cm and was given in 1941 by the family of Felix M. Warburg in his memory. After leaving Rembrandt, Drost went to Italy and ended his life there.

Puzzle tipWith most of the picture black, this one is not easy. Pick out the bright pieces first and put them in place: the face, the white collar and tassels, the hand on the chest and the paper at lower left. The hat's tall crown and the curve of its brim spreading to each side are slightly darker than the background, so follow that outline. Sort the remaining black pieces into the grain of the clothing's folds and the even surface of the background. The paper at lower left is a square white patch, so it is the first thing you will find. Normal (about 48 pieces) is recommended.