Rembrandt created at least forty paintings and thirty-one etchings of himself. He was right-handed, and most likely placed a mirror to the left of his easel so that his painting hand would not block his view. As a result, almost all of his paintings depict the left side of his face (reflected, it appears to be the right side). This one is unique: Rembrandt here faces the opposite direction.
This reversal gives us a different view of his face. In this lighting his cheeks are noticeably hollow. The face is worked in dynamic brushwork, but the clothing and background are made up of much more even strokes. This is unusual, even for a late Rembrandt, and some doubt the painting’s attribution. But perhaps, Rembrandt stopped painting before the stage in which he usually elaborated details and smoothed textures.
Rembrandt’s “view of himself,” note art critics, “reflects every stage of his inner development--experimental in the Leyden years; theatrically disguised in the 1630's; frank and self-analytical toward the end of his life, ... yet full of simple dignity.”
