Rembrandt’s Self Portrait. Authenticity and Attribution

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Art - History of Art, grade: 2,0, language: English, abstract: This essay aims to examine the "Self-portrait as a Young Man" in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, from around 1630 to Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669). The paper tries to illuminate and contribute to the debate on its authenticity and attribution. Preliminary, the object's condition and material are examined to ensure a comprehensive visual analysis. Next, the portrait's visual and stylistic characteristics are explored while considering possible changes due to damage, restoration, and alteration. The following section investigates the portrait from an art historical point of view and in the light of the research on the object, on Rembrandt, and on seventeenth century workshop practise. The essay concludes with an attribution of the object to Rembrandt's workshop and reflects the author's opinion based on the detailed visual examination and the comprehensive study of the research regarding the portrait in question. The painting was examined by the Rembrandt Research Project as well as by other scholars throughout the last decades. However, the opinions regarding the painting's authenticity are divided. While its current owner, the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, accepts it as autograph Rembrandt others like Ernst van de Wetering as part of the Rembrandt Research Project reject its authenticity and attribute the portrait to his workshop. On behalf of the Museum of Greenland this study analyses the different viewpoints, illuminates the issues of the object's authenticity and formulates an argument for its attribution.