This beautiful book looks at the self-portrait practice of Rembrandt van Rijn and offers an in-depth examination of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Rembrandt Self-Portrait, Age 23 (1629).
 
Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait will highlight one of the most important paintings in the Gardner Museum’s collection during its moment at the centre of a major 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 (6 August–18 January 2026) which includes the Self-Portrait, the only work by Rembrandt not stolen from the Museum in 1990.
 
Nathaniel Silver explores Isabella Stewart Gardner’s taste for Rembrandt and acquisition of this painting as a turning point in her collecting. He also contributes an extended catalogue entry, placing it within Rembrandt’s practice of self-portraiture throughout his career. Conservator Lucia Bay addresses Rembrandt’s technique focusing on select details. The book features stunning new photography, as well as a wealth of archival material.