It has been noted as a self-portrayal of subtle and somber qualities, a work in which may be seen "the stresses and strains of a life compounded of creative triumphs and personal and financial reverses".

In Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar Rembrandt is seated in a broadly painted fur cloak, his hands clasped in his lap.

[3] The most luminous area, the artist's face, is framed by a large beret and the high collar that flatteringly hides his jowls.

[1] The skin of the face is modeled with thick, tactile pigment, painted with rich and varied colors suggesting both the artist's physical aging and the emotional effects of life experience.

[4] Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar derives from the same period as the more finished and identically titled canvas in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.

[4][8] The palpable sense of plastic form in the face of Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar is the result not of careful transitions of value and color, but rather, of the textural vibrancy of the brushwork.

Strokes of thick paint, warm in tone, pool up to represent areas of reflected light on the forehead, nose, and cheek.

[12] The face and hands are in good condition; extensively damaged areas in the figure and background have been covered with black overpainting, some of which was removed during a 1992 restoration.