Self-Portrait

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Artist: Jan Lievens (Dutch, 1607–1674)
Medium: Oil on panel
Size: 52 × 40.5 cm
Museum: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
Rights: Public Domain Mark

Lievens painted this life-sized por-trait of himself in profile, his face ex-uding a meditative calm. But how can a painter paint himself viewed from the side? Perhaps this was made possible by an ingenious ar-rangement of multiple mirrors. And why paint himself lit from behind so that the face itself is in shadow? The white areas have been painted using thick layers of paint, creating an uneven surface that catches and reflects the light in a shimmering way.

By contrast, the rest of the painting uses a succession of thin, smooth layers; when the painting is viewed from a distance and in the right light, the contrast between light and shadow is accentuated. In Lievens’s and Rembrandt’s day the myth of the melancholy artist was in fashion. The shadow across Lievens’s face may refer to this myth, telling us that this was how Lievens wanted the world to see him.