Self-Portrait

by Judith Leyster (1609-1660)

About this artwork

An exuberant self-portrait showing Leyster mid-laugh, brush in hand, turning from her easel toward the viewer. The painting-within-a-painting shows a violinist from her genre scenes, demonstrating her specialization in lively musical subjects. The composition's spontaneity and confident brushwork convey both professional pride and personal vivacity. Leyster's direct engagement with the viewer creates unusual intimacy for formal portraiture. Long misattributed to Frans Hals, this work's 1893 reattribution revealed Leyster's significant achievement and sparked scholarly recovery of her oeuvre. The portrait remains an icon of women artists asserting their professional identity through self-representation.