# Self-Portrait in Rome

- By: Horace Vernet (French, 1789–1863)
- Date: 1832
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Framed: 78.5 x 67 x 8 cm (30 7/8 x 26 3/8 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 65 x 54.2 cm (25 9/16 x 21 5/16 in.)
- Culture: France, 19th century
- Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1977.171)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/1977.171/1977.171_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Vernet stands before the Villa Medici, seat of the French Academy in Rome, where he was director from 1829 to 1835. The palette, brushes, and maulstick on the stepladder hint at his talent for painting large canvases. The artist's sideward glance, disheveled hair, and burning cigarette lend him a romantic aura. The recipient of numerous commissions for military paintings, Vernet was patronized by Jérôme Bonaparte (the youngest brother of Napoleon) and later taught at the École des Beaux-Arts.