Self-Portrait in a velvet Cap with Plume (B., Holl. 20; H. 156)

Few other artists depicted themselves as regularly and with such variety and psychological insight as Rembrandt. He etched more than two dozen likenesses in a printmaking career that stretched over three decades, in addition to the painted works for which he is justly famous. His features offered a convenient model with which to enact a narrative or try on a costume, or to train his students in the art of representing physiognomy and character. They could also act as a demonstration of personal style and virtuosity that could be given or sold to patrons or prospective buyers. Quite apart from these practical uses he was also clearly interested in the outward manifestations of the human psyche.