This etching, drawn before a mirror, is one of four that the young artist produced in his hometown of Leiden in 1630. As one of Rembrandt’s earliest efforts at recording his own likeness, it is essentially a foil for another purpose: the depiction of human passions. Such studies helped Rembrandt build a repertoire of facial expressions to use in paintings of scenes from the Bible and from mythology. For Rembrandt, studying and recording his own expressions in front of a mirror was practical and efficient. In later years, art theorists such as Samuel van Hoogstraten, who studied with Rembrandt in the 1640s, would advocate this
method as well.
Details
- Artist Name: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
- Title: Self-Portrait in a Cap, Open Mouthed
- Date: 1630
- Medium: Etching
- Edition: only state
- Dimensions: plate: 2 x 1-3/4 in. (5.1 x 4.4 cm); sheet: 2-1/16 x 1-13/16 in. (5.2 x 4.6 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1977.32.010.G
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Eye-to-Eye with Rembrandt: Etched Portraits and Self-Portraits
- Norton Simon Museum, 1994-05-26 to 1995-01-15
The Familiar Face: Portrait Prints by Rembrandt
- Norton Simon Museum, 2009-12-04 to 2010-3-22
From Line into Image: Etchings by Rembrandt Van Rijn
- Norton Simon Museum, 1992-01-30 to 1992-09-06
Rembrandt Portrait Etchings
- Norton Simon Museum, 1986-05-22 to 1987-08-30
Rembrandt: Prints "of a Particular Spirit"
- Norton Simon Museum, 2017-12-08 to 2018-03-05
Rembrandt Etchings
- Norton Simon Museum, 1978-08-10 to 1980
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1452 p. 408
- Hinterding, Erik; Rutgers, Jaco, The New Hollstein Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700 Rembrandt, 2013, p. 103, no. 69
Additional Artwork by Artist
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