The Autobiographer

Self-Portrait in a Flat Cap
by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642

Rembrandt was a remarkably candid artist whose many studies of his own face in oil, ink and etching comprise a life-long visual autobiography. Instruction, introspection and self-promotion often elide in these humane works, which form the most extensive series of self-portraits of the 17th century.

Here he presents himself with a degree of assurance and a touch of theatrical presentation. At the age of 36 in 1642, when this study was painted, the artist was working on The Night Watch, the grandest of his group portraits; it was a moment of worldly achievement before the bankruptcy and trials in his personal life that were to come. His clothes, twinkling earring and gold chains are rather fanciful props; the light draws attention to his face and inquisitive, benign eyes, and he appears fundamentally as a man worth knowing. The painting was purchased for the Royal Collection in 1814, and when first catalogued five years later it was described as painted in the artist’s “best manner”.

The Animal

The Connoisseurs: Portrait of the Artist with Two Dogs
by Edwin Landseer RA, c. 1865

The acidic views of critics can easily dent an artist’s confidence; here however, their opinions are lampooned in a witty and warm manner by Landseer, the greatest and most empathetic British animal painter of the 19th century.

This delightful image is related to a contemporary photograph of the artist at work, prints of which were sold to the public, much to his annoyance. For Landseer dogs were never merely domestic pets, but noble creatures who could convey qualities such as devotion or heroism. These romantic ideals were combined in his work with the brilliant rendering of anatomical and textural detail. The collie is probably Lassie, who was Landseer’s companion in his studio, and the other dog may be a retriever called Myrtle. Between them, the painter himself, with his severe stare and impressive sideburns, exudes something of a canine persona.

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