# Self-Portrait, from "The Iconography"

**Anthony van Dyck** (Flemish, 1599–1641)  
ca. 1640  
Etching; first state of seven  
Sheet: 9 1/2 × 6 1/8 in. (24.1 × 15.6 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 50.583.4. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337062).

## About this work

Van Dyck etched only his own head on this plate, and in this first state the face seems to float on the bare paper, set down in quick, flickering lines. The plate was later used as the frontispiece of the Iconography, his celebrated series of portraits of princes, statesmen, scholars and fellow artists, and in later states another engraver added a pedestal and lettering around the head. Collectors have long prized early impressions like this one for showing the artist’s own hand at its most direct.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Anthony van Dyck made this in about 1640, aged about 36. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Etching.** The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.

### [Anthony van Dyck](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/anthony-van-dyck)

Flemish, 1599–1641; born in Antwerp; died in London

Van Dyck was the leading assistant in Rubens’s Antwerp studio before spending six years in Italy, chiefly in Genoa, where he painted the local aristocracy in elegant full-lengths. In 1632 he became principal painter to Charles I of England, and his portraits of the king, Queen Henrietta Maria and their court fixed the image of Caroline England and set the pattern for British portraiture for more than a century. He also conceived the Iconography, a series of etched portraits of notable contemporaries.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Prints
- The artist was about 36
- Real size: about 9½ × 6 in (24 × 16 cm). The 8 × 10 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: Men, Self-portraits
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1010.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1010/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/self-portrait-from-the-iconography-met-337062).