Self-portrait

Rembrandt painted this in 1655, one year before he had to file for insolvency in Amsterdam and watch his house and collection go to auction. He had spent freely for years on art, curiosities and armour, and the money ran out just as commissions thinned. None of that is spelled out here. He looks out steadily, the paint thick and worked, the dark background swallowing everything but the face. The canvas was later enlarged on all four sides by another hand, which is why the head now sits so tightly inside its later border.