Self-Portrait

Van Troostwijk shows himself in his studio, turned sideways on a plain wooden chair, holding his palette, a bunch of brushes and a maulstick, the long rod painters rest their wrist on. He looks round at us, his hair unruly, a white cravat at his throat. The edge of a canvas on the easel just enters the picture at the side. On top of the cupboard behind him stand plaster casts of classical sculpture, the models a painter was traditionally trained to draw from. Through an open door a lighter room is visible. The Rijksmuseum dates the picture to around 1809. It is painted freely in oil on paper, later mounted on cardboard and panel. It stayed with the artist's family until 1987, when it came to the Rijksmuseum on loan, and the museum bought it the following year.