Rembrandt’s last laugh in this provocative painting is on the beholder: his ironic gaze challenges the old woman in all of us (but not you, of course). By portraying himself as Zeuxis, who also often felt misunderstood by the public, Rembrandt ridicules a world that pretends to be better than it is. The change reflects period taste but also. Despite the closeness of his death, and the concentration on his aging face, Rembrandt makes an impression of a self-assured and confident artist. Title: Self Portrait Creator: Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn Creator Death Place: Amsterdam, The Netherlands Creator Birth Place: Leiden, The Netherlands Date Created: Around 1628 - Around 1629 Style: Northern Netherlands School Provenance: Purchased from Mr. In the 1640s, Rembrandt’s frequently theatrical style of the previous decade gave way to a more contemplative manner, a mature example of which is Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (1653 61.198). One of three dating to 1669, it was one of the last in his series of around 80 self-portraits, painted in the months before his death in October 1669. No doubt this story appealed to the painter of real life, at a time in his career when buyers abandoned him in favour of a new, idealizing classicist style. These artists probably also inspired his Amsterdam signature, Rembrandt (dropping Van Rijn). It refers to a legend about the antique painter Zeuxis, who laughed himself to death after painting an old hag who ordered a portrait of herself as Aphrodite, goddess of love. But why is he laughing, looking directly at the viewer? The image of the old woman in the shadows on the left gives the answer. For once, the brush and maulstick in Rembrandt’s hands identify his profession. van Rijns radical contributions to the art of the self-portrait. But in spite of this rough and realistic style (a contemporary critic wrote ‘you can pick up a portrait by Rembrandt from the floor by its nose’), it differs from his other self-portraits. Few devotees of the form can approach Rembrandt Harmensz. He does not hide his old age thick layers of paint make the furrows on his brow and the heavy bags under his eyes literally touchable. The ‘self-portrait as Zeuxis laughing’ is Rembrandt’s second last one, painted 6 years before his death.
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