Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn

A fine early impression with the delicate scratches to the right of the signature still visible. Rare, the plate has not been preserved, there are no late prints. Throughout his career, Rembrandt engaged extensively with the genre of self-portraiture, producing a substantial body of work in which he frequently employed a mirror as a compositional aid. These portraits, highly prized by contemporary collectors, attest not only to his enduring interest in self-representation but also to his investigation of the expressive capacities of the human face. On numerous occasions, Rembrandt utilised his own likeness as a vehicle for the study of emotional states, including fear, anger, and contemplation. In the present work, he adopts an orientalist guise, donning attire evocative of figures from the Old Testament. This choice of costume reflects both his engagement with biblical narrative traditions and the broader seventeenth-century European fascination with the exotic—a construct shaped by cultural exchange, colonial expansion, and the visual imagination of the time. With wide margins. – A small tear carefully repaired at the top edge. Otherwise in very good condition. Very rare!