Self-portrait

Hi everyone! My name is Isabella, and I'm so excited to show you a really cool painting! It's a self-portrait, which means it's a picture the artist made of himself! This one is by a man named Adriaen van der Werff, and it's super old – it was painted way back in 1697! That's like, hundreds of years ago! nn Can anyone guess how old that is? (Pause for answers) Wow, that's a long time ago! This painting is so big! It's almost as tall as [mention something familiar to the children's height, e.g., "your teacher!" or "this door!"]. It's really dark, isn't it? But look closely – there are some bright spots, too! What do you notice about the colors? nn

Now, let's look at the man in the painting. He's wearing a fancy red robe! See all the wrinkles and folds in the fabric? The artist was really good at showing how clothes look, wasn't he? He's holding something in his hands. What do you think it is? (Pause for answers) That's right! In one hand, he's holding a little painting, and in the other, he's holding his paintbrushes and a palette! He's showing us what he does for a living! What do you think the little painting shows? (Pause for answers) It's a mystery, but it looks like a lady and a baby! nn

See how the background is all dark and blurry? That makes the man in the red robe stand out even more. It's like the artist wanted us to focus all our attention on him and his work. This painting is a great example of something called Baroque art. Baroque art is all about drama and showing off the artist's skill. This artist was really, really skilled! nn

So, what did we learn about this painting? We learned it's a self-portrait, it's very old, it uses dark and light colors really well, and it shows us the artist at work! It's a really special painting, and I hope you enjoyed learning about it! Do you have any questions? (Pause for questions) Great questions! Now let's go see some more amazing art!