The third self-portrait — in color pastel, signed, the face in three-quarter view against a dark warm-grey background. The skin is built from layered grey and beige tones with orange-red accents at the cheekbones, the nose, and the collar-line — a cooler, more analytical color approach than the warm orange washes of the watercolor self-portrait (1584). The hair is described with dense looping marks in a dark grey-black, the tight curls rendered with the same loop-by-loop attention as the scratchboard work (1591). The eyes are the portrait's most emotionally present element: the right eye clearly forward and attending, the left eye slightly more in shadow, both conveying watchful intelligence.
The three self-portraits (1591, 1584, 1597) together provide three different approaches to the same subject — the face seen in three different media and three different color regimes. The scratchboard (1591) is black and white, the face emerging from darkness. The watercolor (1584) is warm orange and magenta, the face built from luminous wash. The color pastel (1597) is cool grey with warm accents, the face built from layered chalk. Each medium reveals a different aspect of the same face: the scratchboard gives structure and depth, the watercolor gives warmth and expressiveness, the pastel gives analysis and psychological weight.
The slightly open mouth — the lower lip parted from the upper, the teeth visible — gives this self-portrait a quality of breath or speech: the face caught in the moment between expression and silence. Combined with the watchful eyes and the cool grey palette, the portrait reads as Sidney at his most self-examining — a face looking at itself with clear, slightly searching attention.