Self-Portrait
Artist: Giorgio de Chirico (Italian (born Greece), 1888-1978)
Date: about 1922
Dimensions:
Painting: 15 1/8 × 20 1/8 in. (38.4 × 51.1 cm)
Frame: 21 1/2 × 26 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (54.6 × 67.3 × 8.9 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1930.204
Label Text:Two faces—one painted as a marble statue, one as flesh and blood—face each other, presenting the viewer with their profiles. Both bear the features of the artist Giorgio de Chirico. While the marble bust seems to stare at its counterpart, the figure on the right gazes out at the viewer. The Latin inscription, se ipsum, in the lower right corner under De Chirico’s signature, translates as “himself” or “itself.” The phrase emphasizes both the intimacy of the naturalistic self-portrait and the cold “otherness” of the self in marble.
Eager to link himself to the classical past that he found inspiration in, De Chirico had frequently included statuary in his previous compositions. In addition, the lemon on the ledge of this painting seems to reference ancient Roman fresco paintings. The choice to present himself in chiseled marble, however, is a departure from his earlier work, as is the tightly cropped composition. The imposing, empty cityscape glimpsed through the window is an element common to De Chirico’s pictorial style, which he described as “metaphysical” to indicate that his works express meanings beyond physical appearances.
Eager to link himself to the classical past that he found inspiration in, De Chirico had frequently included statuary in his previous compositions. In addition, the lemon on the ledge of this painting seems to reference ancient Roman fresco paintings. The choice to present himself in chiseled marble, however, is a departure from his earlier work, as is the tightly cropped composition. The imposing, empty cityscape glimpsed through the window is an element common to De Chirico’s pictorial style, which he described as “metaphysical” to indicate that his works express meanings beyond physical appearances.
Not on view
In Collection(s)