Self-Portrait in a Fur Cap: Bust

Rembrandt's etchings of faces and people fall into two distinct groups: portraits in which the sitter is formally presented and the overall image carefully composed, and sketches or tronies, which served him to study facial features and expressions, to practice the etching technique and to generally flex his artistic muscle. These tronies are a feature of Rembrandt's early years as an artist and were produced in the late 1620s to early 1630s when Rembrandt was sharing a studio with Jan Lievens in their native city of Leyden. They also include a group of small, but delightful self-portraits of young Rembrandt, often in different disguises and moods or acting out specific emotional states. The present print is a fine and interesting example. As Erik Hinterding noted, it differs from all others in that his face is lit from the left and the right shaded, rather than the other way round. He also changed the initial composition by placing a heavy fur hat on his head, although his unruly hair can still be seen within (see: Hinterding, 2008, no. 16, p. 66-67).
Rembrandt has always had a weakness for extravagant headgear - on others and himself - and clearly enjoyed dressing up in exotic or old-fashioned garments. Here he wears not only a fur cap but also a 16th century fur-trimmed cloak, of a type worn in Rembrandt's time mostly as a house coat to keep warm. Fur was also a luxury and a status symbol, as many of the artist's more formal portraits attest, and he excelled in depicting it's texture in his paintings.
There is something very amusing and endearing about the young artist portraying himself in this costume, despite - or perhaps because of - his rather defiant expression.