| Between 1625, the date of his earliest known work, and 1669, the year of his death, Rembrandt painted over sixty self-portraits and drew and etched his own likeness repeatedly. The portraits range as widely in character as in date. The artist's youthful self-portraits concentrated more on reproducing physical appearance, and many seem to have been experiments in which he practiced dramatic lighting effects on transitory facial expressions, using himself as a model. The later portraits are more subtle and searching. |