Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
In this late self-portrait—one of more than 80 created by Rembrandt van Rijn—the artist shows himself informally posed at a studio window. He uses a needle to draw into a copper etching plate and gazes directly at the viewer as if interrupted in the process of creating a work of art. The window provides the light required to complete this task, but it also reveals the isolation of art making by juxtaposing Rembrandt’s interior space with the expansive landscape and external world from which he has sequestered himself.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
114751
label
Self-Portrait Drawing at a Window
core
obj
dtoType
print
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
114751
contentType
print
title
Self-Portrait Drawing at a Window
description
In this late self-portrait—one of more than 80 created by Rembrandt van Rijn—the artist shows himself informally posed at a studio window. He uses a needle to draw into a copper etching plate and gazes directly at the viewer as if interrupted in the process of creating a work of art. The window provides the light required to complete this task, but it also reveals the isolation of art making by juxtaposing Rembrandt’s interior space with the expansive landscape and external world from which he has sequestered himself.
date
1648
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80007629
creators
2520
genreSpecific
Print
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 17.3 x 14.5 cm (6 13/16 x 5 11/16 in.); Platemark: 15.6 x 12.9 cm (6 1/8 x 5 1/16 in.)
cul
Netherlands
accession
1934.35
Source extras
tec
etching, drypoint, and engraving
tombstone
Self-Portrait Drawing at a Window, 1648. Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669). Etching, drypoint, and engraving; sheet: 17.3 x 14.5 cm (6 13/16 x 5 11/16 in.); platemark: 15.6 x 12.9 cm (6 1/8 x 5 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr., 1934.350
supportMaterials
description
beige(1) laid paper
collection
PR - Etching
stateOfTheWork
v/v
inscriptions
inscription
upper right, in plate: Rembrandt. f 1648 ; VERSO, lower left, in graphite: [illegible] ; lower left, in graphite: i8 ; lower left, in graphite: VVD ; lower center, in graphite: B. 22 IX ;
didYouKnow
In order to show himself with the direct gaze that characterizes this self-portrait, Rembrandt translated a view seen while studying himself in a mirror.
citations
citation
Salsbury, Britany. “Open Windows.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 26.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 26.
catalogueRaisonne
Hollstein 22 (XVIII.10)
creditline
Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:01:10.249000
sourceId
114751
dept
Prints
coll
PR - Etching
med
etching, drypoint, and engraving
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
cfa145e26587740f