Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?)

Jan van Eyck's Portrait of a Man (Self-Portrait?), dated 1433 and in the National Gallery, London, may be the artist's only surviving self-portrait. The sitter wears a distinctive red turban (chaperon) and gazes directly at the viewer. The famous inscription "ALS IXH XAN" (As I Can) may be a modest artistic motto. If a self-portrait, it is among the earliest known self-portraits in European art to show the artist in secular dress rather than as part of a religious composition.

Van Eyck's celebrated painting technique is evident in the luminous rendering of the red turban through layered glazes, the precisely observed stubble and wrinkles, and the penetrating gaze that engages the viewer directly.