JOOS VAN CLEVE (ACTIVE 1505/08-1540/41)
A Self-Portrait
c.1530-5RCIN 405780
This painting and its pair, 'Katlijne van Mispelteeren' (Royal Collection) are thought to be a self portrait and a portrait of the artist’s second wife, possibly painted to commemorate their marriage in 1531.
His gesture could indicate speech, or perhaps an in-joke, since it forms the shape with which an artist holds a palette and would be the hand position reflected in a mirror while he painted this work.