Self-Portrait

About the Artwork

Born in a small village in Belgium, Paelinck attended a local drawing academy as a youth. His skill earned him a scholarship to study in Paris where he worked with Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), the leading French neoclassical master and official court painter of Napoleon I. Paelinck later moved to Rome to study ancient art firsthand and to participate in the city's lively international art scene. Paelinck's attire shows him as a dandy, wearing fashionable, subtly colored clothes. Over his black suit, he wears a box-coat—a garment having a wide, velvet collar originally associated with coachmen but popular among artists in Rome during the early 19th century. The coat demonstrates Paelinck's skill at depicting textures. Likewise, the simplicity of his desk and chair—based on ancient Greek and Roman models—reflects the highest fashion of the time.

Exhibition history

Masterpieces of Art from the New York and San Francisco World's Fairs. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 7-March 7, 1940). An Exhibition of Great Paintings in Aid of the Canadian Red Cross and of Small Pictures by Members of The Ontario Society of Artists. Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (organizer) (co-organizer) (November 15-December 15, 1940). The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). French Drawings and Watercolors from French Public and Private Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 6-February 15, 1942). 19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 1, 1943). Baron Gros, Painter of Battles: The First Romantic Painter. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 8-April 15, 1956).

Quick Overview

Artist: Joseph Paelinck (Belgian, 1781–1839)
Date: c. 1812
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: Framed: 114 x 94.5 x 7.5 cm (44 7/8 x 37 3/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 89 x 69.3 cm (35 1/16 x 27 5/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Gift of Elisabeth Ireland and Robert Livingston Ireland Jr., in memory of their mother, Mrs. Perry W. Harvey
Accession no.: 1937.575

Provenance

Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi collection, Rome. Sold 1926 to Ehrich Galleries, New York. Bought by Mrs. Perry W. Harvey, Cleveland, 1929. Given to the CMA in 1937.

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.