Two boys stand in front of a large monochrome picture displayed on a wooden easel. It depicts a moment from the story of Gideon, as told in the Old Testament (Judges 7: 5–6). God advised Gideon, a military leader, to select his army by asking the men to drink water from a pool. Those who lapped the water with their tongues like dogs were the chosen ones, and would help Gideon secure victory over the Midianites.
The central figure holds a board and a blank sheet of paper, perhaps in anticipation of making a sketch after the work, or to start another. While the snub-nosed child next to him leans over to study the drawing more closely, he turns, frowning slightly, to look at something out of view. This over-the-shoulder look is common in self portraits, due to the required positioning of mirrors and the easel. The boy’s fine outfit – his doublet is embroidered with gold thread and his sleeve is a shiny purple material – is not what an artist would usually wear while working, but would be in keeping with the promotional nature of a self portrait.
While scholars have mostly agreed the figure seems to be a self portrait, identification of the artist has varied from Tintoretto to Theodore Helmbreker, and has come to rest on the Flemish artist Jacob van Oost the Elder. The second, younger-looking sitter has been identified as either an assistant or the artist’s brother.
The painting’s close-up, cropped composition coupled with the crowded scene displayed on the easel lends a claustrophobic atmosphere to the work. This has been intensified by the fact that the lower edge of the picture was cut down at some point, converting it from portrait format – appropriate if this is indeed a double portrait – to the square we see today.
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