Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul, 1661
Rembrandt
An older Rembrandt studies himself with the same unsparing eye he gave his sitters.
Rembrandt casts himself as the Apostle Paul, sword hidden in his robe, meeting our gaze with searching, weary honesty. In his late self-portraits he mined his own aging face for the whole depth of human character — unsparing, warm and profound.
What you're looking at
He is fifty-five and painting himself as a saint, which was not modesty. The sword hilt at his left shoulder is Paul's attribute and is so nearly swallowed by the dark that most people never find it. The face is where the paint gets physical: thick, dragged, scraped back in places with the handle of the brush, the eyebrows lifted into an expression that is somewhere between amusement and exhaustion.
On a Frame TV
About 5:6. Matted file — the clean crop would cut the head. Extremely dark with a single lit face, which makes it a strong choice for a dim room and a poor one anywhere daylight falls.
- 4K master file (3840px+)
- Samsung Frame TV–ready crop
- Phone wallpaper crop
- Printable art card
Public domain · one .zip, no sign-up
More like this
Other works in the collection, starting with Rembrandt.
