Self images: an empirical enquiry into Rembrandt’s self-portraits

Many have speculated that events of personal and financial loss in the life of Rembrandt van Rijn (Rembrandt) caused depression and that this is revealed by examination of his work particularly self-portraits painted in old age. Some report detecting various physiological diseases associated with aging, including vision impairment, which may have affected his mood and work. Aging and neurodegenerative disease which often accompanies it, are both associated with depression. Depression is characterised by visual deficits including perception of reduced contrast and colour. Age-related neurological disorders are associated in artists with reduced complexity. Recent advances in imaging and computer technology make it possible to empirically examine changes in artistic style which can contribute to understanding artists' physical and mental health. Previous studies have identified associations between adverse events in artists' lives and altered contrast and colour in their self-portraits. In the current study changes in contrast, colour and fractal dimension were measured in the entire corpus of Rembrandt's painted self-portraits and portraits to determine whether changes in style indicate depression, cognitive decline, or neurological disease and whether differences in style can be detected between self-portraits and portraits of related and unrelated others. Productivity was also examined as an indirect indicator. The results suggest that it is unlikely that Rembrandt suffered from unipolar or bipolar depression, age-related cognitive decline, or neurodegenerative disease. The data are consistent with someone experiencing episodes of low mood associated with normal grieving and adversity followed by resilient recovery. There is evidence of a gradient in saliency and complexity between self-portraits and related and unrelated portraits and of a 'late' style identified by leading art historians consistent with macular degeneration.