Self-portrait, Bare-headed

This self-portrait of 1629, one of Rembrandt’s first, reveals his ambition and urge to experiment. He drew the image on the etching ground with coarse strokes of a two-pronged instrument, doubtless a quill pen. That he approached the copperplate as a drawing board was highly unusual. The result, incidentally, is not entirely successful, nor is the large format as yet convincing. But Rembrandt was a quick learner.