Self-Portrait with curly Hair and white Collar: Bust

Rembrandt as an artist has often been called a rebel, and we sense his rebellious nature in this delightful little self-portrait, as he defiantly looks back at us from under a huge, unruly mop of hair, of which he was clearly proud. Today, we recognise him immediately by his round features, large fleshy nose and curly hair, but back then he was just starting off as a young artist in Leiden, about 23 years old. And yet, there is already a surprising air of confidence about him, with his faint smile and half-closed but piercing eyes.

Self-portraits formed an important part of his early practice as a printmaker, presumably as a means of training his skill as a draftsman and etcher. The present plate is one of the earliest - in fact Adam Bartsch made it the very first of his catalogue raisonné.

Peter Schatborn saw a close relation to a drawing in the British Museum (inv. no. Gg,2.253; Benesch 53) and also to the painted self-portrait at the Germanischen Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, both dated to around 1629, especially in the way the face is lit (see Hinterding, 2008, p. 41). As early as this, Rembrandt was already preoccupied with the handling of light and shade, as he daringly leaves one side of his face covered in darkness, apart from a tiny glint in his left eye.