Rembrandt · face · catalog raisonné
How many self-portraits did Rembrandt take?
About eighty - but the number tells as much the story of the attributions as that of the painter's face.
Nearly 40 paintings, 31 etchings and around 7 drawings are generally recognized today. The total varies when workshop copies, tronies or apparitions of Rembrandt are included in his historical scenes.
The short answer
Around 80 autograph works
The strongest number to remember is around eighty self-portraits. The Mauritshuis summarizes the corpus with "some eighty" works: nearly forty paintings, to which are added etchings and drawings.
A current count details around 40 paintings, 31 etchings and 7 drawings. Added mechanically, these numbers give around 78. However, it would be misleading to transform this approximation into a definitive total: a few paintings change status according to specialists, some engraved images are more studies of expression than official portraits, and the drawings remain difficult to attribute.
The number also depends on the unit counted. An engraved plaque can exist in several states, then be printed on different papers and on separate dates. The historian normally counts the composition or plaque, not each drawn leaf. Conversely, a painting copied by a student from a Rembrandt model does not become a new self-portrait painted by his hand.
Recommended formula: Rembrandt produced around 80 recognized self-portraits, including almost 40 paintings, 31 etchings and around 7 drawings.
I · Three mediums, three logics
Counting by technique
Each medium serves a particular function. Adding them gives an overview; separating them allows you to understand how Rembrandt worked with his own face.
Paintings
From small Leiden panels to large late self-portraits. The figure declined sharply in the 20th century when several copies and studio works were removed from the autograph corpus.
Etchings
Studies of grimaces, tiny heads, costumes, elaborate portraits and scenes with Saskia. A plaque can produce numerous prints without increasing the number of compositions.
Drawings
Leaves with pen, wash or chalk, often close to research for engraving. Their rarity is also due to the modern severity of attributions.
This total normally excludes: student copies, only retouched studio portraits, figures where Rembrandt lends his features to a biblical character without making him the main subject, and simple printing variations.
Leiden · mirror · expression
In the beginning, the face is a laboratory
The first self-portraits do not yet form a solemn autobiography. Rembrandt is around twenty years old and uses the most available model: himself. He studies an open mouth, a laugh, a surprise, a grimace, light-hanging hair and a face almost engulfed in shadow.
These small paintings and etchings are close to the tronie, head or character study intended to explore an expression, a human type or a costume. The contemporary viewer could purchase an expressive head without necessarily reading it as a diary chapter.
The mirror naturally reverses the image; engraving still reverses it when printing, except when the artist anticipates this reversal. Comparing paintings, drawings and prints therefore requires not treating each orientation as a real change in physiognomy.
Amsterdam · status · Renaissance
At thirty-four, he also built a reputation
In the Self-Portrait at the Age of 34, kept at the National Gallery in London, Rembrandt presents himself with calm, precious fabrics and confident pose. The image dialogues with Titian, Raphael and Dürer: he is no longer content to study a grimace, he claims a place in the history of art.
The costume is not that of a bourgeois from Amsterdam in 1640. The beret, fur, chains and old sleeves create a prestigious temporality. This practice explains why a Rembranesque self-portrait is not always a faithful clothing document.
These paintings could circulate among collectors. The master's face functioned as a visible signature of his talent: skin, fabric, metal, character and scholarly references united in the same object.
II · Why the numbers change
From almost a hundred to about eighty
Workshop copies
Students reproduced the master's models and learned to paint a head by imitating his face. An old copy can be excellent without being by Rembrandt's hand.
Retouched tables
Some panels combine master intervention, assistant work and subsequent repetitions. The question then becomes: how much is enough to talk about an autograph self-portrait?
The border with the tronia
A laughing or grimacing head can represent Rembrandt without having been conceived as a social portrait. Catalogs do not always classify these images in the same way.
Historical cameos
Rembrandt sometimes lends his features to a soldier, an executioner or a biblical character. Counting each appearance would inflate the corpus without clarifying the genre.
Etching states
The same plate is modified, reprinted and inked differently. The proofs may be unique objects, but they are not as many new compositions.
Reclassified drawings
The leaves without signature pass from Rembrandt to his circle, then sometimes return to the master. The drawn corpus is the most mobile.
III · Forty years in front of the mirror
The timeline changes more than the face
Experiment
Small formats, strong shadows, open mouths, laughter, surprise and disheveled hair. The head is used to learn.
Assert yourself
Costumes, armor, chains and references to old masters build a professional identity.
Slow down
The number of large painted self-portraits is decreasing. The 1648 engraving shows an artist at work, leaning near a window.
Come back
After several years, the face reappears with freer painting, frontal poses and a more visible material.
Transform
Apostle Paul, Zeuxis, painter in both circles: the last roles go beyond the simple observation of aging.
IV · Neither photo album nor confession continues
Why did Rembrandt represent himself so much?
The modern temptation consists of reading self-portraits as a film of one's life: ambition, success, bankruptcy, mourning and old age. This reading is moving, but it simplifies works designed for different uses.
Study emotions
The mirror provides a patient model for free. Rembrandt can repeat a grimace, move a candle, and observe how facial muscles change an expression.
Demonstrate the technique
Skin, hair, metal, velvet, fur and shadow help show collectors the extent of its means.
Sell artist
Through engraving, his face circulates far from Amsterdam. The painter's image becomes a component of his European reputation.
Role · identification · ambiguity
Paint yourself like anyone else
The Rijksmuseum's Apostle Paul Self-Portrait shows why the category remains complex. The face is that of Rembrandt, but the character has biblical attributes. Should we count a self-image, a history painting or both?
Rembrandt doesn't just look for resemblance. He uses his body as an actor, as his first expressive models did. In late works, this play becomes more serious: the painter confronts his identity with roles of witness, apostle, ancient artist or master at work.
This is why the idea of a "17th century selfie" is insufficient. The camera records an appearance; Rembrandt constructs a presence with costume, gesture, light, material and pictorial tradition.
Last year · several versions
What is the last self-portrait?
Several self-portraits are dated to 1669, the year of Rembrandt's death. The Mauritshuis presents his as possibly being the last, but the exact order between the late versions is not entirely assured.
Fascination comes from their proximity to death. However, the painter does not appear passive. The material remains inventive, the touches of the face vibrate, the clothes are constructed in masses and the look remains a pictorial decision.
We must therefore resist a legend that is too convenient: the ruined old man does not replace the painter. Even when his financial and family situation is difficult, the self-portrait remains a work intended to act on a spectator.
Workshop · tools · authority
Painter shows himself to be painter
In several late images, tools and workspace take on new importance. The easel, support stick, palette or circles in the background transform the question "what did it look like?" into "what is a painter?".
The face is then only one element of a larger professional identity. Posture, scale and degree of completion affirm the sovereignty of manual labor. A barely indicated area can remain voluntarily open while let the light focus attention on the eyes and hands.
This freedom explains the influence of late self-portraits on Goya, Courbet, Van Gogh, Lovis Corinth, Francis Bacon and many contemporary artists.
V · Where to see the essential steps
An autobiography scattered between museums
| Location | Work or period | What she shows |
|---|---|---|
| Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam | Young self-portrait with disheveled hair; Self-portrait as an apostle Paul | The contrast between youthful experimentation and late biblical role. |
| National Gallery, London | Self-portrait at the age of 34, 1640 | Social ambition and dialogue with Raphaël and Titian. |
| Kenwood House, London | Self-portrait in both circles, circa 1665 -1669 | The monumental painter, the tools and authority of the trade. |
| Mauritshuis, The Hague | Self-portrait, 1669 | One of the last known faces, painted energetically during the year of his death. |
| Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | Self-portraits from 1652 and the 1650s | The return to the mirror after a less productive period in painted portraits. |
| Metropolitan Museum, New York | Self-portrait from 1660 | A serious monumentality and a very constructed late material. |
| Rembrandt House Museum | Important etching | The diversity of expressions, costumes, states and printed papers. |
Attention: works on paper are fragile and are not permanently exhibited. Consult the programming of each museum before traveling.
Self-portraits and collections
Follow Rembrandt from age to age
Self-portraits of Rembrandt
Compare the ages, costumes, roles and techniques of the painter.
YouthHair ruffled
The face as a laboratory of light and expression.
1640Self-portrait at 34
The ambitious image of the painter who has reached the peak of his career.
1661As an apostle Paul
Portrait, costume and biblical identification.
Late periodIn both circles
The painter, his tools and the enigma of the background.
1669At age 63
One of the last faces painted during the year of his death.
Frequently asked questions
Understand the number without freezing the catalog
How many self-portraits did Rembrandt take?
The current conservative count is around 80 works: almost 40 paintings, 31 etchings and around 7 drawings. The exact total varies depending on the attributions and definition of the self-portrait.
Why do we sometimes find the number 90 or 100?
Old catalogs accepted more studio paintings or copies as autographs. Other counts add studies of expression, appearances in historical scenes or several engraved states.
How many painted self-portraits of Rembrandt do we know?
Museums and specialists generally speak of nearly forty autograph paintings. The border remains shifting for some works discussed or widely taken up by the workshop.
How many engraved self-portraits did he make?
The reference corpus includes 31 etchings or engraved compositions. The numerous proofs and the different states of the same plate are not thirty-one additional works in each print.
How many drawings are considered self-portraits?
Around seven drawings are generally retained. Paper assignments are particularly delicate because students imitated the teacher and the sheets are rarely signed.
What was Rembrandt's first self-portrait?
The first reliable images appeared in Leiden around 1628. They show a very young artist studying light, hair, laughter, astonishment and grimace in front of a mirror.
What is his last self-portrait?
Several paintings date from 1669, the year of his death. The Mauritshuis' self-portrait is often presented as the last or one of the very last, with no absolutely certain chronology between the late versions.
Did Rembrandt paint a self-portrait every year?
No. Production concentrated in waves, notably in the late 1620s, 1630s and late life. Certain periods are much less documented.
Did his self-portraits form a diary?
Today they make it possible to monitor its aging, but they were also expression exercises, technical demonstrations, status images, sections and works intended for the market.
Why does Rembrandt disguise himself in his self-portraits?
Old costumes, berets, armor and chains allow him to take on roles, evoke Renaissance masters and offer collectors images richer than a simple civilian portrait.
Where to see the most self-portraits of Rembrandt?
Amsterdam, London, The Hague, Vienna, Paris, New York and Washington retain major examples. The Rijksmuseum brings together several essential stages, from youth to the Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul.
Which collection of reproductions to consult?
Alpha Reproduction's Rembrandt Self-Portraits collection brings together several ages and roles of the painter, including disheveled hair, age 34, the apostle Paul and the two circles.
Institutional sources and catalogs
Mauritshuis - Self-portrait from 1669 and count of around 80 works.
Petit Palais - Self-portrait in oriental costume and distribution by medium.
The Leiden Collection - Self-Portrait with Shaded Eyes, study and corpus.
Rijksmuseum - Self-Portrait with Tousled Hair.
Rijksmuseum - All the Rembrandts.
Rembrandt House Museum - collection of etchings and drawings.
Rembrandt House Museum - Rembrandt engraver.
Article verified on August 8, 2026. Numbers remain deliberately approximate when scientific consensus does not allow absolute precision.
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