Long before the first “selfie” ever appeared, there was self-portraiture. It reaches back centuries, shaped by the same impulse that drives today’s digital snapshots: to document presence, highlight their profession, and explore one’s place in the world.
That motivation has remained remarkably steady over time. From Renaissance workshops to baroque studios and beyond, artists have turned to their own likeness as both subject and study. Self-portraiture, in all its forms, remains a vital global practice of artistic self-exploration, revealing both the maker and the historical moment in which they lived.
