Self-portrait

By 1605 Barocci was about seventy, and this late self-portrait hangs today in the Uffizi's famous collection of artists' self-portraits. The face is thinner than in his younger years, the cheeks hollow, the skin pale. Scholars connect that gaunt look to the chronic stomach illness he carried for decades, which kept his output slow and his time away from Urbino short. One side of the face falls into shadow while the other catches a soft, almost pastel light, the gentle modelling he was known for. The eyes are the sharpest thing in the picture, fixed steadily on whoever stands in front of him. He went on painting for several more years after setting down these worn, watchful features.