Self-Portrait

Rembrandt van Rijn

National Gallery of Art

A man with a rounded nose and wide, soft jawline looks out at us in this almost square red-chalk drawing. The man’s shoulders angle to our right, and he turns his face to us, his heavy-lidded eyes shadowed under a floppy beret. His thin lips are closed, and he has a goatee. Curly hair frames his face, and one long lock falls over his right shoulder, to our left. A light-colored collar, perhaps lace, lies across his shoulders over a darker garment.