Rembrandt's Self-Portrait

This book will be an in-depth examination of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Rembrandt Self-Portrait, Age 23 (1629). It will highlight one of the most important paintings in the Museum’s collection during its moment at the centre of a major season exhibition. It will accompany the exhibition The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt (co-organized by The Jewish Museum and the North Carolina Museum of Art) at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (August 6–January 18, 2026) which includes the Self-Portrait, the only work by Rembrandt not stolen from the Museum in 1990. Nathaniel Silver will explore Isabella Stewart Gardner’s taste for Rembrandt and acquisition of this painting as a turning point in her collecting. He will also contribute an extended catalogue entry, placing it within Rembrandt’s practice of self-portraiture throughout his career. Conservator Lucia Bay will address Rembrandt’s technique focusing on select details.