Self-Portrait
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The famous collection of artists’ self-portraits housed in the Vasari Corridor in Florence, which links the Uffizi Gallery with the Palazzo Pitti, goes back to Renaissance times. Many of the great names in European art are represented there. Sargent was one of the first Americans to be invited to contribute a self-portrait. He approached this honor with great purpose.
Sargent was not naturally self-reflective; the three self-portraits in oils that he completed were all commissions from other people. Of these, the Uffizi self-portrait is the largest and most imposing. Sargent presents himself in formal attire wearing his Légion d’honneur pin (represented by a small red dab at left) to signify his international success. His serious gaze befits the work’s distinguished destination.
Sargent was not naturally self-reflective; the three self-portraits in oils that he completed were all commissions from other people. Of these, the Uffizi self-portrait is the largest and most imposing. Sargent presents himself in formal attire wearing his Légion d’honneur pin (represented by a small red dab at left) to signify his international success. His serious gaze befits the work’s distinguished destination.
Artwork Details
- Title: Self-Portrait
- Artist: John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
- Date: 1906
- Culture: American
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 27 1/2 × 20 7/8 in. (69.8 × 53 cm)
- Credit Line: Instituti museali della Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino, Galleria degli Uffizi
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing