Self-portrait as Zeuxis Laughing
Rembrandt·1668
Historical Context
Rembrandt's Self-Portrait as Zeuxis Laughing from around 1668, in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, shows the aging artist laughing while painting, possibly depicting himself as the ancient Greek painter Zeuxis who reportedly died laughing while painting an old woman. This interpretation suggests a darkly humorous meditation on aging, art, and mortality in one of Rembrandt's last self-portraits. The painting's fragmentary state adds to its enigmatic, almost ghostly quality.
Technical Analysis
The broadly painted surface, with areas of unfinished canvas visible, creates an effect of spectral transparency. Rembrandt's late technique reduces the self-portrait to essential elements—the laughing face emerging from deep shadow with almost abstract freedom.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the open-mouthed laugh — the last self-portrait and possibly the most enigmatic, Rembrandt looking at himself in the act of painting an old woman.
- ◆Look at the fragmentary, almost ghostly quality: areas of unfinished canvas visible, the painting caught at the threshold between existence and non-existence.
- ◆Observe how Rembrandt's late technique here becomes almost abstract — the laughing face emerging from broad strokes of warm paint.
- ◆Find the dark humor of the identification with Zeuxis, who died laughing: Rembrandt in his final year, finding something to laugh about.
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