GABRIEL METSU (LEIDEN 1629-AMSTERDAM 1667)
A Self-Portrait
RCIN 405943
The painter looks through a fictive stone frame – a device learned from Dou – holding the tools of his trade: palette, maul-stick and brushes. But he aspires to be a liberal artist, shown not painting, which is a bit messy, but drawing after a piece of sculpture and dressed like a gentleman.
Acquired by George IV in 1814
Cat. 10