Self-Portrait

Photographer: David Wilkie Wynfield (1837–1887)

1860s

Albumen print

8 3/8 x 6 3/8 inches (21.2 x 16.1 cm)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery, London, accession no. NPG P87

Photo: © National Portrait Gallery, London.

Reproduced with kind permission. [Click on image to enlarge it, and see commentary below; mouse over the text for links.]

Wynfield as a Painter

Commentary by Dennis T. Lanigan

In this self-portrait Wynfield has posed himself dressed as a Renaissance scholar, full-face, with eyes cast downwards and reading a book. He wears a cap on his head. Wynfield would have required an assistant in order to achieve this image because a delayed release mechanism for a camera had not been developed at this point. Wynfield also did a different self-portrait in profile to the right and wearing a dark shirt with full sleeves gathered at the shoulder. His right hand rests on his chest underneath his beard. Both works feature his distinctive blocks of light and shade as the background.

Bibliography

Hacking, Juliet. Princes of Victorian Bohemia. London: Prestel, 2000, 34-35.

Keaney, Magdalene. "This Portrait." National Portrait Gallery. Web. 13 December 2023.

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Created 12 December 2023