All our sweetest hours fly fastest

5:30 A.M., oil on panel, 16x20 inches, Perhaps it's a tendency toward self-reflection, perhaps it's a bit of vanity, or perhaps it's simply the convenience of having a cheap and ready model, but artists have been portraying their own likenesses for centuries now, basically since mirrors became widely available in the 15th century. And while these popular self-portraits may not offer us a window into the artist's soul or even a glimpse of how these artists saw themselves, they do present an interesting picture of how they wanted to be seen.