Self-portrait of the Artist at work on the Likeness of His Wife

This canvas is one of a series of the numerous self-portraits, in which the painter attempted to express his views of himself, longing to capture the inner states of his mind. Kupezky only slightly changed an older composition (Österreichische Galerie, Vienna), in which he captured himself working on a portrayal of a man. The Prague work also made use of the type representing “a picture within a picture” – the easel holds an almost finished portrait of Kupezky’s wife Zuzana. Both her face and his own are thus confronted in an almost identical level of reality. This way of a man and wife rendering resembles wedding double portraits or depictions of ideal couples in the 16th century.