Rembrandt van Rijn
Self-Portrait Etching at a Window
1648
Physical Qualities
Etching and drypoint, Sheet: 161 x 131 mm. (6 5/16 x 5 3/16 in.)
Plate: 160 x 130 mm. (6 5/16 x 5 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Garrett Collection
Object Number
1946.112.7779
Instead of adopting a formal pose of traditional portraiture, Rembrandt renders himself in the act of drawing, gazing directly at his image in the mirror. The strong illumination from the window highlights his face, with the studio lost in shadow. His expression is one of deliberation, whereas his earlier self-portraits included wildly exaggerated facial expressions and fanciful costumes. He depicts himself in his typical studio attire, marking the progression from theatrical self-description to sober self-analysis.
T. Harrison Garrett, Baltimore, purchased 1885 (Lugt supp. 2435b); James L. Claghorn, Philadelphia (lugt supp. 555c). [Note on mat: Coll JH Hawkins (Lugt 3020); Thos. Philipe? (Lugt 2451)]
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Rembrandt: The Museum's Collection," 15 January - 21 April, 1991.
BMA, "The Age of Rembrandt: Distinguished Prints from the Collection," 12 February - 13 April 1997.
BMA, "In the Artist's Studio: Works on Paper from the Collection," Sept 15, 2005 - Feb 27, 2005.
Andaleeb Banta and Joanna Karlgaard, The Baltimore Museum of Art, “The Rembrandt Effect,” December 12, 2021 - April 10, 2022.
BMA, "The Age of Rembrandt: Distinguished Prints from the Collection," 12 February - 13 April 1997.
BMA, "In the Artist's Studio: Works on Paper from the Collection," Sept 15, 2005 - Feb 27, 2005.
Andaleeb Banta and Joanna Karlgaard, The Baltimore Museum of Art, “The Rembrandt Effect,” December 12, 2021 - April 10, 2022.
Jay McKean Fisher. Diamond of the Month: March 1989. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1989, unpaged.
Jennie Fleming, "Mirror or Metaphor." Newsletter of The Print & Drawing Society of The Baltimore Museum of Art (Fall 2004), illus. p. 16.
Jay McKean Fisher, "Matisse as Printmaker: Works from the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation," American Federation of Arts, 2009, p. 37, fig. 1, ill.
Fisher, Jay McKean. Matisse grabador/printmaker. Madrid: La Fábrica, 2019.
Signed: 1
Inscribed: Recto: in image, upper left, in plate "Rembrandt. f 1648" Verso: center in graphite "B22"; lower left in graphite "92"; lower left in graphite "YXROS/YHXY"; lower left in brown ink "TP"; lower right in brown ink "No. 271"; lower right in graphite "g g"; lower right in graphite "22"
Markings: CM: possibly John Heywood Hawkins (Lugt 3020 and 3021); Thomas Philipe (Lugt 2451); Claghorn
