Rijksmuseum

Self-portrait, Bare-headed

Date

1629

Medium

paper

Institution

Rijksmuseum

This self-portrait of 1629, one of Rembrandt’s first, reveals his ambition and urge to experiment. He drew the image on the etching ground with coarse strokes of a two-pronged instrument, doubtless a quill pen. That he approached the copperplate as a drawing board was highly unusual. The result, incidentally, is not entirely successful, nor is the large format as yet convincing. But Rembrandt was a quick learner.

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