Self-portrait with Allegories
1691
Swedish court painter David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl casts himself as the absolute master of his craft in this grand 1691 Baroque self-portrait, complete with a magnificent curly wig and a paintbrush in hand. He isn't alone in his studio; he's flanked by allegorical muses, including a woman offering him a palette and a winged figure holding a scroll of his legacy, while a cheeky cherub floats overhead dangling a golden chain. It's a brilliant piece of 17th-century self-promotion, showing us exactly how highly this 'father of Swedish painting' thought of his own artistic genius!
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