Artwork
Self-Portrait
Self-Portrait is an oil painting by the Neoclassicist artist Anton Raphael Mengs. It dates from 1775 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum. Created in 1775, this oil painting is a self‑portrait by the German‑Italian painter Anton Raphael Meng Meng.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Housed in the collection of the Hermitage Museum, the piece represents a direct visual record of the painter produced during his time in Germany.
Created in 1775 by Anton Raphael Mengs, this oil painting on panel functions as a self-portrait, with the artist serving as both the creator and the primary subject. The work depicts Mengs himself, adhering to the conventions of the portrait genre to document the artist's likeness.
Housed in the collection of the Hermitage Museum, the piece represents a direct visual record of the painter produced during his time in Germany. The iconography is straightforward, focusing entirely on the representation of Mengs without additional symbolic elements or allegorical figures described in the available records.
Technique & Style
Anton Raphael Mengs's Self-Portrait is executed in oil paint on a wooden panel, a traditional support choice for the period. The work is classified as a portrait painting and is dated to 1775. According to the catalogue record, the panel measures 102 cm in height by 77 cm in width, giving the composition a tall, vertical orientation suited to a half- or three-quarter-length depiction of the artist.
The medium and support place the work within the conventions of eighteenth-century European easel painting, where oil on panel allowed for refined surface handling and detailed finish. The genre is identified as both a portrait and a self-portrait, with the artist himself as the depicted sitter and main subject.
History & Provenance
The Self-Portrait by Anton Raphael Mengs is held in the Hermitage Museum, accession number ГЭ-1330. It was created in 1775 in Germany, measures 102 cm in height and 77 cm in width, and is executed in oil paint on panel. The work has been part of the Hermitage Museum's collection since its inception and has been displayed in exhibitions focusing on 18th-century portraiture.
Overview
Created in 1775, this oil painting is a self‑portrait by the German‑Italian painter Anton Raphael Meng Meng. The work measures the artist’s likeness as he presents himself with the tools of his trade, and it is presently part of the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
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