Self-portrait

Gerard de Lairesse painted this self-portrait around 1670, when he was in his late twenties and already one of the most sought-after painters in Amsterdam. He shows himself dressed for the part, a man confident in his trade and in his eyes. That second point matters here, because within about two decades Lairesse gradually lost his sight and had to give up painting entirely. He spent his later years dictating a treatise on art that became a standard handbook in Dutch studios long after his death. This picture holds him while he could still see the work his hands were making. The Uffizi placed the canvas in its collection of self-portraits, where painters were asked to portray themselves for a gallery of the profession.