ABSTRACT
The Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn has been widely praised as a master of the naturalistic rendering of human ‘passions’ in his paintings and etchings. His etching ‘Self-Portrait in a Cap, Laughing’ and painting ‘Laughing Soldier’ were produced at roughly the same time. 1 The Latin poet Horace in his work Ars Poetica and Paul’s Espitle to the Romans (12:15), works that Rembrandt would have known, both indicated that people respond to laughter or joy with laughter or joy and in these works Rembrandt invites the viewer(s) to rejoice, smile and laugh in response to these faces. The self-portrait in particular, reminds us of the pleasure that Rembrandt took in his art and the passion that he invested in his work.
