One of our earliest acquisitions in 1995 this self-portrait (which then was unknown in the literature) proved very popular and was asked for many exhibitions. We know of a total of 12 painted self-portraits by Gerrit Dou, clearly a faithful follower of his teacher, Rembrandt. In our self-portrait – the smallest of the 12 – Dou wears a rather serious expression and is dressed in the latest fashion. By the late 1630s Dou was a celebrated master and his studio drew talented pupils seeking to master his techniques and who would go down in history as the so-called ‘school of Leiden fijnschilders’.