Skip to main content

Govert Flinck, 'Self Portrait aged 24', 1639

About the work

Overview

Rembrandt was a teacher as well as an artist – and he knew how to school apprentices in his workshop so that they could paint just like he did.

In this portrait we can see many of the skills and techniques that Rembrandt used with such great effect. Look at the intense and detailed focus on the face, the skilful layering of paint, the subtle mixing of different skin tones and the use of texture and colour to suggest stubble and pores. The pink, patterned scarf is painted with the same sort of long brushstrokes Rembrandt favoured when depicting fabric of this type.

For many years, it was thought to be a signed self portrait by Rembrandt. We now know that it’s a self portrait by one of his most successful pupils, Govert Flinck. In 1926 cleaning revealed that Rembrandt’s signature had been forged to cover Flinck’s own, probably in the nineteenth century to add value to the painting.

Key facts

Details

Full title
Self Portrait aged 24
Artist
Govert Flinck
Artist dates
1615 - 1660
Date made
1639
Medium and support
oil on wood
Dimensions
65.8 × 54.4 cm
Inscription summary
Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit
Presented by Ayerst H. Buttery, 1925
Inventory number
NG4068
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images