Self Portrait

Recreation by Mathew Ardoin

Rembrandt was well known for the vivid and modestly accurate self-portraits that he made throughout his life.  This example is of particular note for those interested in lighting, because of its singular, discriminating light source.  The soft white light highlights only half of the painter's face, and he look at us in surprise, as if we've stumbled onto him mid-thought.  The trouble arises, as seems to be the case with all of these paintings, in trying to determine exactly where the light source is coming from.  I determine that it has to be one because of a) the lack of double-shadowing and b) the very small amount of the subject actually illuminated.  Most of the evidence points to straight on side lighting from the left at the level of Rembrandt's face, perhaps positioned between us and him. The constant curve of the light's periphery indicates it is level with the subject, and the full illumination of the angled crevices of the nose further suggests lighting at more or less a 45 degree horizontal angle to the face.  But a problem arises when one considers the shadow hovering over the eye.  It has to be cast by a light source much higher than we expected.  There can't be two lights, because the eye shadowing is consistent, but the light is also coming from two directions.  The brightening of the cap, also, points to a raises source of light.  Faced with this impossible task, the recreation proves to be a bit washed out.  Using the higher-angled  light source, it reveals another practical consideration of real light that the Rembrandt does not have: spill.  On the subject above, light washes down from the shoulder onto the chest, and splashes across the face and cap.  In Rembrandt's image, carefully contained lighting shows only what the painter wishes to reveal: an artist caught mid-thought, halfway between the canvas he paints and the brush he paints with.