Self portraits
and Other Paintings

Self portraits

A self-portrait, as a projection of self, may have began with Fouquet's hand held portrait but artists like Albrecht Dürer and Parmigianino are known for the detailed exploration of their own images. A portrait an artist makes using himself or herself as its subject, typically drawn or painted from a reflection in a mirror. Dürer is credited for being the first artist to consistently create self-portraits, assigning his own image an important place among his paintings, but Rembrandt is given credit for being the first artist to intensely study the self through art.

Vincent van Gogh is as famous for his self-portraits as is Rembrandt, though instead of creating them over a life time, he painted the majority, twenty-two of them, within two tumultuous years. Other portrait artists who also used the self-portrait as a projection of self did so to demonstrate wealth, social status, talent or religious beliefs.

Rembrandt's self-portraits delve deep into the psyche, they show a complex personality, strong emotions, and a chronicle of circumstances through life. Courbet uses fictitious scenes to depict his emotions, the images of himself are always a realistic interpretations