Self Portrait at age of 43

Self Portrait at age of 43 was created by Ary Scheffer in 1838, executed in oil paint on canvas. The work entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where it is held and on display. No information regarding a commission, prior ownership, or intermediate provenance between the artist's studio and the museum's acquisition is documented in the available sources.

Self Portrait at age of 43 is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, as recorded in the Wikidata entry for the painting. The work, dated 1838, is catalogued within that institution's holdings alongside its material and dimensional data.

No exhibition history is documented in the available sources.

Created in 1838, this oil on canvas presents Ary Scheffer at the age of forty‑three. The work belongs to the Romantic era and functions as a personal portrait, showing the artist in a contemplative pose. It is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection and exemplifies Scheffer’s frequent engagement with portraiture as a genre.

Scheffer, a Dutch‑French painter, was known for literary, religious, and portrait subjects, often depicting notable contemporaries. This self‑portrait reflects his personal engagement with the Romantic emphasis on individual feeling and the artist’s role as a thinker. It also illustrates the broader 19th‑century practice of self‑portraiture as a means of asserting professional identity.