He places himself at the centre of the image, so tentatively balanced at the edge of the frame that we imagine him falling out of it. Here, he is a lone figure in a dimly lit room, immediately establishing a sense of alienation, of self-inflicted separation from the world. The desire to show oneself as this lonesome, brooding genius, is a trait long associated with the artistic temperament.

Humoral theory, established in Ancient Greek philosophy, played a fundamental role in the understanding of different character traits in 17th century society and had major bearing over the way physical and emotional conditions were understood at the time. The theory suggested that a person’s character was defined by four bodily fluids; Blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. These were held responsible, by their balance or lack thereof, for the governance of the four personality types; sanguine (optimism/positivity), choleric (bad-tempered/irritable), phlegmatic (unemotional/calm disposition), melancholic (expressive, pensive sadness). It was believed that an artist was divinely inspired by melancholy, alienated from society and acutely vulnerable to passions. It is therefore unsurprising that the melancholic temperament,
was brought to attention in this period of heightened self-awareness. It was a ‘fashionable disease’ that artists of the 17th century wanted to be afflicted by, for it is where true creative genius was said to find its roots. It is, perhaps, for this reason that Rembrandt chose to paint himself partially obscured by shadow, a technique used in many of his other works, and in the works of his contemporaries. It is the shaded eyes especially, that help to construct this image of melancholy, as It was believed that only through concealment could a spirt oppressed by sadness be fully revealed.

 

Further focus on introspection is exhibited in his use of colour. We immediately we see the earthy tones; cold, stone greys and deeply rooted, muddy browns, but through closer inspection we begin to notice areas where these sombre colours have been removed to reveal an undercurrent of vivid orange. This technique reminds us of the multi-layered nature of the image, clarifying the reality of paint spread over paint. By paying attention to the materiality of his work, Rembrandt evokes the idea of skin stretched across flesh and shadow lying over skin, thus convincing us of the image’s, and therefore his own, interiority.

 

Through an exploration into his own remarkable individuality, Rembrandt discovers himself and with that, the value of self-portrayal and self-fashioning. He demonstrates better than any other artist of the period that self-portraiture is not only a reflective activity, but also an inventive one. With it, a person can formulate an image of themselves to fit any criteria, constructing a false version of reality that plays to the society that surround them; not unlike the images we choose to post of ourselves on social media today. In a virtual world we can be anyone that we decide to be, painting a picture of what it is we think others would like to see. ‘Self-portrayal is essentially self-creation, self-invention and fiction’, a fiction happily adopted by Rembrandt the melancholy genius.