Self-Portrait with Raised Sabre

In this portrait, Rembrandt depicted himself in a costume that is reminiscent of a royal ermine robe, perhaps in the role of an Eastern monarch. He is shown with an ostrich plume in the beret and an Asian sabre in his hand. This is not the first and only example of a portrait of himself dressed in a costume. The image is rendered en face: the combination of the eyes gazing fixedly at the viewer and the threatening gesture of the sabre imbue the sitter with a sense of power and status.