In the final year of his life, Rembrandt van Rijn painted himself as the ancient Greek painter Zeuxis, caught in a moment of laughter. This self-portrait stands out not only for its humor but for its timing: Rembrandt, facing bankruptcy and personal loss, chose to embody a figure known for dying of laughter at his own art. No other self-portrait by Rembrandt so openly courts the absurd, prompting scholars to debate whether this was a gesture of defiance, irony, or acceptance in the face of mortality. The story Rembrandt selects is that of Zeuxis, famed in antiquity for painting such convincing grapes that birds tried to peck them, and who, according to legend, died laughing while painting an old woman commissioned as a model for Aphrodite.

Here, Rembrandt’s eyes squint and his mouth splits into a broad grin, his wrinkled face alive with amusement. The play of light across his features emphasizes the deep lines of age, while his hand, clutching a brush, is poised as if mid-gesture. Unlike Artemisia Gentileschi’s more solemn self-portraits, Rembrandt’s approach is self-mocking and theatrical, inviting viewers to share in the joke and, perhaps, to reflect on the folly of artistic ambition. The precise provenance of Self-portrait as Zeuxis Laughing is uncertain, as is its original patron—if there was one at all.

Many of Rembrandt’s late self-portraits remained in his studio at his death in 1669, circulating through Amsterdam collections before entering public hands. Today, the painting is housed in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne. It is one of the last in a long line of self-portraits, and its comic, unguarded tone marks a departure from the introspective gravity of his earlier works.

This painting stands as a testament to Rembrandt’s willingness to confront both his art and his own humanity with wit and candor, even at the end of his life.