by : Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt / location : National Gallery, London UK / Year : c.1640 / Oil on Canvas

Original size: 102.2 x 80.6 cms

Rembrandt painted this self portrait at the height of his success. The pose resembles a self portrait done by Durer in 1498. The body is turned more towards the viewer and the entire arm rests on the balustrade.

The face is painted in short, regular brush strokes. Each hair of the moustache is rendered separately and his hair is shorter from the previous year giving him a more dignified look. Rembrandt has dressed himself as a master from bygone days, but he has managed above all to remain himself.

Signed and dated bottom right: Rembrandt. f 1640; inscribed: Conterfeycel [portrait].

This painting is closely related to a self-portrait etching made by Rembrandt in the previous year, 1639. In both the print and the painting the composition is influenced by Raphael's 'Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione' (Paris, Louvre), by Titian's 'Portrait of a Man' in the National Gallery and by Albrecht Dürer's 'Self Portrait' of 1498 (Madrid, Prado).

This portrait shows Rembrandt at the height of his career, presenting himself in a self-assured pose wearing an elaborate costume in the fashion of the 16th century. It seems as if Rembrandt refers deliberately to his famous predecessors in this portrait, and thus places himself in the tradition of great 'Old Masters'.

The word 'conterfeycel' (more properly conterfeytsel) is an archaic Dutch term for portrait.