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Secondary sourcePainting1661

Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul

Rembrandt · 1661

Rembrandt's 1661 self-portrait in which he depicts himself as the apostle Paul, holding a sword and manuscript.

Rembrandt portrays himself in the guise of Paul, holding Paul's traditional attributes of sword and manuscript.

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Oil painting of an older man with a pale turban, wrinkled face and dark brown robe, holding a large open book in his right hand. Dark background with light on the face and book. Signature and date at left.
Rembrandt, Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul, 1661. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting, signed and dated by Rembrandt in 1661, shows an older man in a pale turban holding a large open book, with a sword tucked under his arm, both traditional symbols of Paul. It is one of Rembrandt's more than forty known self-portraits and is held in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Why it matters

Rembrandt disguised himself as Paul in a type of work called

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Scan of a manuscript page with about twenty lines of handwritten Latin in a medieval-style hand, with a small decorative heading at the top. Some lines have large initial letters and flourishes.Letter

Primary source

Epistle to the Romans

Paul the Apostle · c. AD 57

Engraving of an elderly bearded man with a halo, wearing a draped robe and holding an open book, standing beside a wall with a sword at his feet. Dated 1514 with the AD monogram. Black and white.Painting

Secondary source

Saint Paul

Albrecht Dürer · 1514

Page 300 of the 1848 Prekmurian New Testament, headed 'Szvétoga Pavla Apostola I. K Korinthusánczom Piszani Liszt' with two columns of Prekmurian Slovene text, chapter 1 verses 1 to 13.Letter

Secondary source

First Epistle to the Corinthians

Paul the Apostle · c. 54 AD

Scan of a fragmentary papyrus leaf with faded brown Greek uncial-style text in columns, with torn and missing sections. It is a manuscript of 1 Corinthians 7:33-8:4, not chapter 13.Book

Primary source

1 Corinthians 13

Paul the Apostle · c. AD 53-57

Colored 1879 map titled 'Map Illustrating the Travels of St. Paul' by H.H. Hardesty, showing the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, Egypt and the Holy Land with routes marked in lines and numbered journeys.Document

Secondary source

Map Illustrating the Travels of St. Paul

H.H. Hardesty · 1879

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