When the original, signed, on panel, 65 x 49 cm, was acquired by the collector Boymans by 1811, he assumed to have acquired a Rembrandt as the painting was accordingly signed. In 1847 his collection was left to the City of Rotterdam. In 1849 the Museum Boymans was opened for the public in the Schielandhuis. During the cleaning of the painting circa 1859 the Rembrandt signature proved to be false and the original signature was revealed underneath. It is scratched in the wet paint with the tip of the brush, a manner which has been faithfully imitated by the painter of the present lot. The painting has been in the collection of the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen ever since (see C. Brown, Carel Fabritius, 1981, p. 123, no. 4, pl. 4).

In his monograph on the artist, Christopher Brown states that it is likely that the picture is a self-portrait of the artist because of the directness of the gaze and the unconventional pose. It can be compared to a portrait of 1654 in the National Gallery, London (C. Brown, op.cit., p. 126, no. 6), which is also considered to be a self-portrait. According to the author there is unfortunately not enough firm evidence to confirm this theory (see Brown, op.cit., p. 123)

See illustration