Autoritratto

The Uffizi keeps a collection of artists' self-portraits going back to the 1600s, begun by Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici, who asked famous painters to send a likeness of themselves. To be invited into it was a real honour, a sign you had arrived. In 1889 the invitation reached Anders Zorn, a Swedish painter of 29 who was fast becoming one of the most sought-after portraitists in Europe. He answers with just the confidence you would expect, brush in hand, looking straight out, painted with the loose wet touch that made his name. He was young for the company he was joining, which runs from 16th-century masters down to his own day, and he knew it. The plain dark coat keeps all the attention on the face and the hand.