Self-Portrait with a Folio Volume

In this self-portrait, Swiss daguerreotypist Jean-Gabriel Eynard imagined himself as a subject in an Old Master painting. Hunched over the large volume in seated profile, Eynard probably drew upon Dutch painting as a source to create this image. The image of a saint reading occurs frequently in Rembrandt van Rijn's paintings, etchings, and drawings, which Eynard had seen. The debt to this painterly tradition is especially evident in the way the light appears to emanate from the open book.