This is a painting, a personal portrait of the artist Rembrandt. Rembrandt was a Dutch painter and engraver born in Leiden. He is considered one of the greatest painters in the history of European art and the most significant in Dutch history. His creative activity coincides with the era of economic and cultural boom known as the Dutch Golden Age. Rembrandt's style, although in many ways the opposite of the Baroque prevailing in much of Europe at the time, was also characterized by extreme exuberance and innovation. In his youth, Rembrandt achieved success and fame as a portrait painter, but later in life he faced personal misfortunes and financial difficulties. Nevertheless, his engravings and paintings remained famous throughout his life, his reputation as an artist did not decline, and he became the teacher of many important Netherlandish artists of the next generation. Rembrandt's greatest creative successes are visible in portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits and illustrations of biblical scenes. The series of his self-portraits form a unique and intimate biography, in which the artist is analyzed without vanity and with extreme frankness.