In this beautiful self-portrait, Rembrandt depicts himself etching a copper plate at a table near a window. He is wearing his work clothes and not the fanciful oriental costumes, accoutrements and plumed hats of his earlier etched self-portraits. The light from the window illuminates the drawing table and Rembrandt's tender and pensive expression, while the remainder of the room is cast in darkness. This etching demonstrates Rembrandt's brilliant use of chiaroscuro to add depth and drama in this etching. Rembrandt created this etching in 1648 at the age of forty-two, after a troubled six year period during which he etched no self-portraits. During this six year period, Rembrandt's wife Saskia died, his financial situation deteriorated, and his relationship with Geertge Dircx, the nursemaid of his young son Titus, became troubled and later culminated in a court battle. This is Rembrandt's last etched self-portrait.

Art historians believe that the first recorded comments on Rembrandt as an artist appear in 1628. In that year, Arnout van Buschell noted that "the Leiden millers son is much praised, but before his time." In 1629, at the age of twenty-three, Rembrandt first began to routinely sign and date most of his etchings, and created his first self-portrait. Rembrandt subsequently etched and painted a number of self-portraits during his lifetime.