The Earliest Selfies in Art
The selfie is considered to be a unique, modern phenomenon, born from smartphones and social media. Yet, the desire to share one’s likeness is way older than photography. For centuries, artists have gone beyond creating still life, religious paintings, or landscapes, turning their attention toward themselves. Using a mirror, paint and outstanding skill, they produced what we would call the ‘earliest selfies’. Thanks to their self-portraits, we get to know what the great masters might have actually looked like and more – a glimpse into their lives.
From what has been discovered so far, the history of self-portraiture has its roots in the Renaissance period. You’re probably wondering why during the Renaissance and not even earlier, considering mirrors have been around for thousands of years.
Humans have used polished obsidian stones to see their reflection dating back to 4000 B.C. After that, bronze mirrors have been discovered throughout many civilizations. Further, the Romans introduced mirrors made with silvering technique. They began using more reflective metals such as tin-mercury amalgam, forming mirrors that have been used widely for hundreds of years, but also represented a great danger when shattered, as they released mercury in vapor and liquid form. The situation began to change when the Venetians came up with a different technique. Between the 13th and 15th century, they created a clear glass which they called ‘cristallo’, making it the clearest reflective material yet. The mirrors they made were composed of four layers: glass, tin foil, mercury and finally, another layer of glass.
Once with the introduction of those mirrors, a growing interest in individual identity was encouraging artists to examine their own appearance.
Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1525)
One of the best known selfie pioneers was Albrecht Dürer, who created about fifteen self portraits, starting with him being portrayed at the age of thirteen in 1484. His detailed self-portraits presented him as nothing like a craftsman, but as a figure worthy of artistic and intellectual attention. His three major self-portrait paintings are:
1493 - Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle
This was Albrecht’s first oil painting, created when he was twenty two years old. During this time, the artist was travelling to Upper Rhine, where he was developing his artistic skills. He got acquainted with other artists and sketched landscapes and cityscapes. When travelling to Strasburg, he received a letter from his father, who announced he betrothed a bride for him. He was to marry Agnes Frey, the daughter of an interior fountain craftsman who was appointed to the Grand Council of Nuremberg (the birthplace of Albrecht), and her mother, who was born in a patrician Rummel dynasty. It is believed that Albrecht sent this very painting to his fiancée, so that she could imagine what her future husband looked like.
The thistle represents a man’s fidelity, therefore, historians believe this was the artist’s way of saying he will not object to his father and promises to be faithful to his wife.
1498 - Self Portrait at twenty six
Five years apart from the previous portrait, Albrecht was not only a mature, married man, but a famous artist. At the time he painted it, he returned from his second trip to Italy, where he was widely known as a fantastic engraver. Judging by his pose and clothing, I think it’s fair to say he was very aware of it.
1500 - Self Portrait at twenty eight
This is Albrecht’s most famous self-portrait, as he depicts himself squarely toward the viewer, instead of the customary three-quarters view. This pose during that time was usually reserved for depictions of Christ. So he deliberately compared himself to Christ, which was extremely unusual and shocking for that time. In the painting we could observe a Latin inscription meaning:
“Thus I, Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg, portrayed myself with everlasting colors at age 28.”
Others interpret his self-portrait as spiritual, where the artist expressed his Christian humility.
What do you think?
Was Durer humbly modeling himself after Christ, or was he making a bold statement about the divine nature of his artistic genius?
Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390–1441)
Another artist that has been known to introduce his own likeness into his paintings, earlier than Albrecht Durer, was Jan van Eyck - one of the most important European painters and also one of the most mysterious.
Scholars believe that his painting ‘Portrait of a man in a red turban’ was a self-portrait.
1433 - Portrait of a man in a red turban
He created this painting in 1433, including the inscription ‘als ich kan’, which translates to ‘as I can’. However, the artist never clearly stated ‘this is me’, but his unusual direct gaze and the intense, personal feeling the painting emanates, along with the words ‘as I can’, lead many to believe that the man in the red turban was, indeed, Jan van Eyck.
What would be your take on that?
Another painting historians believe the artist had introduced himself into was ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’, painted one year later, in 1434.
1434 - The Arnolfini Portrait
It is probably the most analyzed painting in Western art. The level of detail and richness in symbolic elements is outstanding, yet nobody knows for sure what the painting was truly representing.
The Arnolfini Portrait showcases two wealthy figures identified as Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, Giovanna Cenami in a richly detailed interior. It is believed that Jan van Eyck’s appearance was reflected in the mirror behind the couple, making it the most interesting and debated detail about the painting.
1434 - The Arnolfini Portrait cropped detail
Catharina van Hemessen (ca. 1528 - after 1565)
Another example is Catharina van Hemessen. She occupies a very important place in the history of self-portraiture, especially for women artists. What makes her truly fascinating is that she was the first known artist to paint herself in front of the easel.
1548 - Self-portrait with easel
She did not represent herself as a woman or a simple sitter, but as an artist. For that time, what she did was quite remarkable. This is known to be her only self-portrait. There is another possible self-portrait, but experts are still in debate. Unfortunately, after the mid 1550s, Catharina’s artistic presence disappeared, leading historians to believe she either married, or worked privately.
Sadly, not many recognized works belonging to women artists have been found after the age of twenty, when marriages were putting an end to their artistic careers, as their obligations and household expectations were restricting professional activities then.
Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614)
A happier example from around the same period of time is Lavinia Fontana one of the most influential women of the Renaissance. She continued painting professionally after marriage and became greatly successful, thanks to her husband, who supported her career and handled household management and other domestic responsibilities himself. The arrangement the two had was hugely unusual for that time, but allowed her to paint over one hundred works. Her escaping the pattern reshaped the understanding of female artistic careers in early modern Europe.
1579 - Self portrait in the studio
She painted herself in her studio using oil paint on a copper plate, measuring no more than 15.7 cm (6.2 in) in diameter. The painting was commissioned by the Spanish Dominican scholar Alfonso Chacón for his collection of illustrious men and women of the time.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606 - 1669)
It would be impossible to discuss self-portraiture without mentioning the giant Rembrandt (1606 - 1669), the father of exploring one’s true identity through timely, honest expressions. He created between 80 - 100 self-portraits, where we could practically see him age, going through all the stages of his life: playful youthfulness, ambition, prosperity, confidence, grief, poverty, physical decline...
1628 - 1629 - Self-portrait in his early twenties
1632 - Self-portrait wearing a ruff and a black hat
1640- Self-portrait at the age of thirty four
1652- The large self-portrait
1661- Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul
1665- Self-portrait with two circles
1669- Rembrandt's last self-portrait at the age of sixty three
Rembrandt showed us what it means to be human over time.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)
Another legendary self-portrait painter, and one of the world’s favorites, was none other than Vincent Van Gogh. He painted around 35 - 40 self-portraits, plus some drawings. He treated self-portraiture as an exploration of his own emotions, as if he was filling up the gaps Rembrandt left behind. But unlike Rembrandt showcasing his lifetime through the span of many years, Vincent’s self-portraits were compressed into just a few intensely unstable years.
1886- Self-portrait with pipe
1887- Self-portrait
1887 - 1888 - Self-portrait with felt hat
1889 - Self-portrait with bandaged ear
His paintings are high in contrast, with bold brushstrokes, emotional and simply… unmistakeable.
Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
After a deep sigh, Henri Matisse comes as a breath of fresh air, with self-portraits that move on from inner turmoil and focus on composition, form and visual harmony.
1900 - Self-portrait
1906 - Self-portrait in a striped t-shirt
1918 - Self-portrait
In some ways, it feels like the artist became less important than color, line or composition. The ‘self’ wasn’t something emotionally revealed any more, but something that could be carefully built, simply and in an aesthetic way.
Unfortunately, he rarely used himself as a model, painting only a small number of self-portraits (two or three accepted painted self-portraits) during his entire career.
Whether created with oil paint, charcoal or a phone camera, self-portraits and selfies come from the same human longing: the desire to be seen, remembered and understood.
For hundreds of years artists stood in front of their mirrors trying to capture not only their appearance, but also their identity, emotions, fears or ambitions, and so on…
Some have shown themselves with pride, with an air of grandeur, while others with painful honesty. For some, self-portraiture became a tool for exploring one’s self; for others, a statement or advertisement. Some were more challenging than others.
Today the selfies are much faster and more casual, yet the reasoning is the same. We document moments, express our emotions, shape the way we look, seek connection, etc… We work with different tools, but we are the same we’ve been hundreds of years ago.
Thank you for reading.
And now I have a question for you: which artist’s self-portrait do you find most compelling and why?
Go here and complete the form with your answer, or simply email me directly at contact@canvastrails.studio
I can’t wait to see who is your favorite!
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