Laughing Young Man, Rembrandt van Rijn (circle of), c. 1629 - c. 1630

Laughing Young Man, Rembrandt van Rijn (circle of), c. 1629 - c. 1630

oil on panel, h 41.2cm × w 33.8cm × d 4cm More details

A young man wearing a painter’s cap, probably Rembrandt, laughs cheerfully at us. The painting is not a portrait, but rather a portrayal of an emotion. Rembrandt frequently used his own face to practice rendering expressions: smiling, angry, sad, or startled. This panel was long considered an early self-portrait by the artist. Now it is thought to be by a pupil in Rembrandt’s Leiden workshop.