Self-Portrait in a Cap, Open-Mouthed
Medium
etching
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 5.2 x 4.5 cm (2 1/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.7264
Art Historical Context
In 1630, at just 24 years old, Rembrandt van Rijn created *Self-Portrait in a Cap, Open-Mouthed*, a tiny etching measuring only 5.2 x 4.5 cm—small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. This intimate print captures the young artist in a moment of vivid expression, his mouth agape as if mid-laugh or gasp, framed by a simple cap. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection, it exemplifies Rembrandt's early mastery of printmaking during his Leiden period, just before his move to Amsterdam brought wider fame. Rembrandt revolutionized etching, a technique where acid bites into a ...
About the Artist
Rembrandt van Rijn · 1606–1669
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) stands as one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art and the most important Dutch painter of the 17th century. Born in Leiden to a prosperous miller's family, Rembrandt transformed painting through his revolutionary use of light and shadow, his psychological depth in portraiture, and his elevation of etching to a fine art. His approx...