Self-Portrait

Alessandro Longhi

1762

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Romanticism 18th Century Portrait

About this work

This is a black-and-white portrait drawn into the paper. A man with curly hair and a serious face sits in the center, framed by a simple oval border. Around him, swirling lines and small faces peek from the edges like decorations. The artist’s name, *Alexandro Longhi Pictor*, is written at the bottom—*Pictor* means "painter" in Latin. The whole image looks like it was carved into the paper with sharp tools. Next, check out the technique: etching.