Focus on this artwork and explore the Composition.
The pose is reminiscent of several earlier works by Rembrandt, including an etching from 1639, Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, and a painted self-portrait of 1640, now in the National Gallery in London. Both earlier pieces have been viewed as referential to the Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (Louvre) by Raphael, as well as A Man with a Quilted Sleeve  by Titian (NG, London), then wrongly thought to be a portrait of Ludovico Ariosto, which Rembrandt had seen in Amsterdam.  The folded hands and the left arm covered in dark fabric are similar to the Raphael portrait.Also reminiscent of the Raphael painting are the positioning of the head and torso, unusual among Rembrandt's painted self-portraits. When painting himself, Rembrandt generally used the more convenient arrangement for a right-handed artist, placing the mirror to the left of the easel, so as not to have his view impeded by his working arm and hand, with the left side of the face most prominently featured. There are several frontal self-portraits, but Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar is one of only two, along with Self-Portrait as Zeuxis, that Rembrandt painted in which he is turned to the left, thus revealing more of the right side of his face. It has been suggested that this difference in angle was an intentional variation from the series of self-portraits he was painting at the time.
Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar derives from the same period as the more finished and identically titled canvas in the National Gallery of Scotland  in Edinburgh. Both the clothing and physical condition of the face suggest a date close to 1659. The same clothing appears in a small, unfinished Self-Portrait with Beret in the Musée Granet.
National Gallery of Scotland Raphael canvas Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione Rembrandt left Titian National Gallery etching Ludovico Ariosto A Man with a Quilted Sleeve