Artemisia Gentileschi paints herself in a guise of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a Christian saint martyred in the early 4th century. She leans on a broken wheel studded with iron spikes, the instrument of Catherine's torture & the saint's standard attribute. Her right h&, delicately holding a martyr's palm between thumb & forefinger, is brough to her chest. The painting dates from Artemisia's period of activity in Florence, where she moved in 1612 following her rape by Agostino Tassi & the infamous trial that ensued. Saint Catherine's physiognomy, head & threee-quarter pose are all closely related to those in Artemisia's ' Self Portrait as a Lute Player' (about 1615-9). in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, USA, suggesting that this too is a self portrait of the artist. Her right hand holding the palm frond is identical to that in Artemisia's ' Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Uffizi Gallery, Florence), a work which probably dates from around the same time. Artemisia seems to have used her own image frequentyly in works painted during her Florence sojourn
- a number of Artemisia's self-portraits are recorded in 17th-century inventories, though not all of these have been identified. Keen to promote her talent in Florence, a city to which she had newly arrived, Artemisia may have painted such works in a conscious act of self-promotion
- the existence of these images certainly seems to suggest there was a demand for them among her patrons.

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Create your own bespoke print of Rembrandt’s Self Portrait at the Age of 34 from our collection. About this painting Self Portrait at the Age of 34, 1640 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1861 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

Create your own bespoke print of Rembrandt’s Self Portrait at the Age of 63 from our collection. About this painting Self Portrait at the Age of 63, 1669 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1851 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

Boxall, who succeeded Sir Charles Eastlake as Director of the National Gallery in 1866, had been primarily a portrait painter & had exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1829. The exact date of this picture is unknown. During his directorship he acquired ...

Create your own bespoke print of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun’s Self Portrait in a Straw Hat from our collection. About this painting Self Portrait in a Straw Hat, 1782 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1897 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

Cezanne painted his own portrait on a number of occasions throughout his career. From his appearance here, this portrait is datable to about the time of Renoir's pastel portrait of him, dated 1880 (private). The wallpaper with its diamond pattern appears in a number of Cézanne's still lifes. ...

The 12 main panels of the altarpiece, one of the largest to be commissioned in 14th-century Florence, are in the National Gallery Collection. The predella shows scenes from the life of Saint Peter & is dispersed in different collections. The painting was commissioned for the church of San Pier Maggiore in Florence, probably by the Albizzi family. The accounts of 1370 show that a certain Niccolò, probably Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, designed the altarpiece. It was probably painted by Jacopo di Cione & assistants. It was completed in 1371. In the centre of the composition are Christ & the Virgin, dressed in white & gold, & seated upon a canopied throne surrounded by angels. The panels to each side are densely crowded with saints; to the left a prominent Saint Peter carries a model of San Pier Maggiore. The middle tier of the altarpiece, which would have been supported by heavy buttresses, showed (from left to right) the Nativity, the Adoration of the Kings, the Resurrection, the Maries at the Sepulchre, the Ascension & Pentecost. In the three pinnacles above, the Trinity appeared in the centre with adoring angels on each side. A later, more fluent, Florentine version of the theme is ' The Coronation of the Virgin' by Lorenzo Monaco. ...

The 12 main panels of the altarpiece, one of the largest to be commissioned in 14th-century Florence, are in the National Gallery Collection. The predella shows scenes from the life of Saint Peter & is dispersed in different collections. The painting was commissioned for the church of San Pier Maggiore in Florence, probably by the Albizzi family. The accounts of 1370 show that a certain Niccolò, probably Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, designed the altarpiece. It was probably painted by Jacopo di Cione & assistants. It was completed in 1371. In the centre of the composition are Christ & the Virgin, dressed in white & gold, & seated upon a canopied throne surrounded by angels. The panels to each side are densely crowded with saints; to the left a prominent Saint Peter carries a model of San Pier Maggiore. The middle tier of the altarpiece, which would have been supported by heavy buttresses, showed (from left to right) the Nativity, the Adoration of the Kings, the Resurrection, the Maries at the Sepulchre, the Ascension & Pentecost. In the three pinnacles above, the Trinity appeared in the centre with adoring angels on each side. A later, more fluent, Florentine version of the theme is ' The Coronation of the Virgin' by Lorenzo Monaco. ...

This panel, together with the ' Annunciation' by the same artist, was bought in the 19th century from the Medici Palace in Florence. Obviously a pair, although not necessarily designed to be viewed together, the pictures were probably once set into furnitu ...

The artist frequently painted scenes, set in imaginary Italianate landscapes, populated by elegant horsemen & women, shepherds, peasants, cattle & sheep. Here he concentrates on a group of sheep & goats, prominently displayed in the foreground. Etchings produced after a painting was a common occurrence in the 17th century. In this case, however, Dujardin produced an etching of the subject first & painted this composition after it, 18 years later. The work dates from the artist's late years, when he was living in Amsterdam. ...