Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle By Dürer

Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle is an oil painting on parchment pasted on canvas by German artist Albrecht Dürer, painted in 1493. It is the earliest of Dürer's painted self-portraits and has been identified as one of the first self-portraits painted by a Northern artist. The date, and the plant in the artist's hand, seem to suggest that this is a betrothal portrait.