Selbstporträt

This self-portrait on panel, titled 'Selbstporträt' in the Wikidata record, belongs to Stubbs's practice of self-examination across different phases of his career. Stubbs produced a small number of self-portraits in different media and at different scales, including an enamel self-portrait on Wedgwood ceramic support — one of the most technically demanding self-portraits in British art. The panel support here suggests a small-scale, private work rather than a formal public statement, and the German title in the metadata may reflect a continental provenance or later cataloguing. Self-portraiture in Stubbs's case was as much an exercise in observational painting as it was in self-promotion: the same unflinching objectivity he brought to animal anatomy he applied to his own physiognomy. Stubbs was not a natural self-publicist and rarely painted himself for exhibition, making surviving self-portraits particularly valuable documents of his appearance and working method.

Oil on panel. The small panel format suits intimate self-portraiture, allowing fine detail in facial features. Stubbs models his face through careful chiaroscuro, the light source establishing strong shadows that reveal bone structure beneath the skin. The handling is characteristically tight and controlled, with little visible brushwork in the main flesh areas.