1650
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Self-Portrait is a 1650 ink by Wallerant Vaillant, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This is a black-and-white portrait of a man with a serious expression. He’s wearing a large, curly wig and a ruffled collar. His hands rest on a dark chair, and the lighting makes his face stand out against the shadowy background. The artist used shading to create depth, focusing light on his face while keeping the rest dark. This was a common trick in Baroque art to draw attention to the subject. Next, look up *chiaroscuro* to see how this lighting technique works.
Wallerant Vaillant (30 May 1623 – 28 August 1677) was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age and one of the first artists to use the mezzotint technique, which he probably helped to develop.
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