Not striking a pose, the artist is caught in the middle of his most intimate and natural activity, etching on a plate resting on a folded piece of cloth on top of several books. Unpretentious, the image Self Portrait at a Window, Drawing on an Etching-Plate reflects a traditional portrait type used since the 15th century.
But perhaps Rembrandt’s most soul-searching and moving images date from the end of his career, characteristically, his self-scrutiny was first considered carefully in etching, before being pursued in painting. A large portion of these self-examinations were created while he was a young man, and served to spread his fame, his name and image, while advertising his abilities in portraiture and dramatic expression. Over the course of his long career, he made over 80 self-portraits in oil, in chalk, in pen and ink and wash, and in etching. No artist has probed the potential of self-portraiture with greater tenacity and variety than Rembrandt.
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