24K image |
77K image
*Image viewer provided by Web Gallery of Art. |
 A right-handed painter such as Rembrandt would most likely place a mirror to the left of the easel so that his painting hand would not block his view. Rembrandt changed this time and painted himself on the right of the canvas. This reversal give us us a different view of his face. There is a slight blemish on his cheek and in this lighting he is noticeably hollow-cheeked. The dynamic brushwork in the face, makes a stark contrast with the even strokes used to paint the clothing and background. This is unusual even for a late rembrandt. the unusually free and sketch-like execution has sown some doubts as to the paintings attribution. An explanation might be, that Rembrandt stopped painting at a certain stage in which he usually carried on elaborating details and smoothing over.
Rembrandt's biographer, Arnold Houbraken wrote that Rembrandt's motto was 'that a work is finished when the master has achieved his intention in it'.
** View a detail image |
