Although Georg Friedrich Schmidt was known as one of the premier reproductive printmakers of the mid-eighteenth century - he was appointed court engraver to Frederick the Great in 1743 - the artist also made several etchings after his own designs, including this self-portrait. Here Schmidt shows himself interrupting his creation of a drawing on a sheet of paper with a 'porte-crayon' (chalk holder) to make eye contact with the viewer. The use of the medium of etching and especially the contrasts of light and dark that play over his face would have been appreciated by his contemporaries as a nod to the graphic work of Rembrandt.