What is painting but the art of embracing the surface of the pool?

(Leon Battista Alberti)

Ever since a young hunter from Thespiae fell in love with his own reflection a few thousand years ago, humans have been cursed with a degree of admiration for themselves. While studying and portraying himself, the painter attempted not only to represent his image but also to depict a state of mind, his social status, or the allegoric representation of abstract ideas.

Not all portraits were signed by artists as representing themselves. Jan Van Eyck’s Man in a Red Turban is inscribed ‘As I can’. The direct gaze and the precision of detail, from the stubble to the red veins on the white of the eye, indicate to us that the painter was looking in the mirror. The date of completion is very specific—21st October 1433, placing it among the first self-depictions in the history of art, if it is indeed a self-depiction.

It’s me in the mirror

Developments in the manufacture of mirrors, making them more affordable as well as higher quality, enabled painters to use them in self-portraiture, starting with Cinquecento Renaissance.

Soon the use of mirrors led to a series of rules and pictorial conventions (profile, ¾ or frontal, direction of light, etc.), which some painters followed and others deliberately disregarded. Johannes Gumpp’s self-portrait is unusual in showing all three presences: the artist, seen from the back, his reflection in the mirror and the portrait to which he seems to apply a finishing touch. The cat and the dog in attendance symbolise autonomy and fidelity—qualities believed to make good portraits. This is Gumpp’s only known work; if it was created as a self-publicity project, it probably was not very successful.

But is a portrait always a true representation? Rembrandt’s 1658 selfie shows an imposing, confident person, dressed in a magnificent outfit – which the frame of the unusually large canvas can barely contain. In reality this monumental self-portrait was painted at a time when the artist was living through a personal and financial crisis. The painter can create or modify his image, his identity as well as his position in, and relationship with society.

Ecce Homo

The convenience of painting oneself—an inexpensive, always available model—became obvious to painters very early on. In addition, there is the temptation of depicting themselves not just as one is, but as they want to be and how they want to be seen. Albrecht Dürer produced self-depictions from the age of 13, a time when teenagers find ways to express their self-awareness and uniqueness.

The start of the 16th century marked his own maturity, and he celebrated with a remarkable self-portrait, in which he is depicted as Jesus, the Salvator Mundi pose. The view is full frontal and symmetric, the subject looks directly at and beyond the viewer, his hand curved inwards. Dürer has given himself a short beard and moustache, changed his hair colour from reddish blonde to brown and parted it in the middle, to resemble the earlier representations of Christ. Far from being blasphemous, or guilty of hubris, portraying himself as Jesus represented an acknowledgement that his talent was God given and an expression of gratitude for the divine gift.

Rembrandt produced nearly 100 self-portraits, Van Gogh around 43, Lucien Freud more than 50. Beyond an interest in one’s own facial features, this proliferation is dictated by many factors, from economic to psychological, to artistic.

About art

The art of painting itself is often the subject: look at the painter at work. William Hogarth and Francis Hayman’s self-portraits were designed as promotional material for British art, painting education and training. Featured in an unrealistically clean and tidy studio, impeccably dressed, Hayman is seen delicately applying a little dab of paint to the canvas. (1748-50).

Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi pictured herself as the Allegory of Painting. In a depiction more realistic than her other self-portraits, her forehead shines with perspiration, her hair is in disarray, the gaze focused on the canvas. The left hand, resting on a slate, is holding the palette, while the right controls the brush that reaches the canvas. The careful detail of the lace on her bodice and the folds of the green dress are an indication of the promotional role of the painting. Since arriving in Florence from her native Rome, Artemisia pictured herself in other works—as a lute player, as Saint Catherine, as Judith – each making a strong statement, but none so powerful as ‘I am Painting’ or ‘I am Art’.

The use of self-portrait as advertising the painter’s skills seems to have been effective for Artemisia, who secured many important commissions. More than a century later, in Paris, a fellow portraitist employed the same self-promotion method, with even greater success. Elisabeth Vigée LeBrun created over 660 portraits, but she is mostly known for her many depictions of Marie Antoinette.

Her earliest self-portrait, at 16 years of age, already shows sensitivity to colour and great skill in rendering detail. She attracted criticism for painting herself smiling (‘Madame Vigée LeBrun shows her teeth’) in a self-portrait with her daughter Julie, a tender portrayal of a peaceful family moment. Her best known and most glamorous Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat, shows a confident, accomplished artist, holding her palette and brushes and looking directly at the viewer. Apparently painted outdoors, the young woman’s face is protected from sunlight by an elegant straw hat, decorated with flowers and a feather.

Flowers and feathers no longer feature in 20th century portraits. In Laura Knight with model, Ella Louise Naper (see above) we are presented with three figures: the artist seen from the back, her head turned so that we see her profile; her model; and the representation of her model on canvas. Knight is wearing working clothes: a warm but unfashionable red cardigan, a man’s hat, a striped scarf. Her model, fellow artist and friend Louise Naper, is naked. This detail alone makes Laura Knight’s painting a rebellious feminist one, as women were not allowed to paint nudes. Ignoring tradition and discriminating rules, the painter created a complex figurative composition, with decisive brush strokes and strong colours.

One of the most influential portraitists, Lucien Freud doesn’t attempt to appear handsome or elegant in his self-portraits. He painted himself consistently throughout his long career. As befits a great painter of 20th century nudes, Freud, aged 70, portrays himself naked but for a pair of unlaced boots. Painter Working, Reflection shows the artist older but powerful, holding a brush and a palette—the warrior’s sword and shield.

Like autobiographies, self-portraits obscure as much as they reveal about their creators, leaving us with an appetite to dive deeper, to discover more through their work.