Since his first self-portraits in the ‘20s. Berni showed a great ability for observation and mastery of plastics means to undertake the issues of resemblance of human figure and its conclusive presence. At times in a melancholic, inwards look, at times through a light, graceful attitude, the people he portrayed share a vigorous building of their image, a distinction in their aspect and a trifle of vulnerability, that shows, above all, in their expressions or in certain attitudes of abandonment, in which an emerging inner monologue can be seen, an unwilling one, of the stress and the bore of the pose. Their look is invariably lost in a far point, which allows the viewer to observe without being queried. The self-portraits are an exception: the painter not only stares at himself attentively to get hold of his representation, but also, through his piercing look, he warns about the essence of his job.