Self-Portrait
Rembrandt at fifty-four looks at himself, painting tools in hand: a self-portrait made after his bankruptcy that shows his aging face without flattery. Full commentary ↓
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Self-Portrait is an oil painting by Rembrandt (1660) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 80.3 × 67.3 cm.
In the pictureAgainst a dark background, a man in a white cap looks out at us. His face is lined, his cheeks sag, his nose is red, and the skin under his eyes droops. Above his brown clothing, the light gathers only on his face. The brushwork is rough: up close it is lumps of paint, and from a step back it becomes skin.
BackgroundRembrandt painted it in 1660, when he was fifty-four. Four years earlier he had gone bankrupt and sold his house and his collection, and he had already outlived his wife and several of his children. Over his lifetime he painted close to 80 self-portraits; when young he staged himself in splendid clothes and expressions, and in his late years he painted himself just as he was, as here. Paintings that depict old age this honestly are rare in the history of art.
Puzzle tipAs a puzzle, the face pieces are the key and the rest is dark. Complete the face and cap first, then separate the clothing and background by subtle differences in brown tone. Zoom in and the texture of the brushwork differs from piece to piece, which serves as a clue. It is on the difficult side, so 24 to 48 pieces is recommended to start.
- Artist
- Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam
- Classification
- Paintings
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 80.3 x 67.3 cm
- Credit line
- Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
In these collections: Portrait and Self-Portrait Puzzles
Stories about this work
- Five Masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt and Bruegel as Jigsaw Puzzles
Two Vermeers, two Rembrandts, one Bruegel. From a morning where nothing happens to the face of a bankrupt painter, why the Low Countries masters turn into a battle with dark pieces when you solve them as puzzles.
