43. Anthony van Dyck
(1599-1641)

Portrait of Jan Brueghel

(click on image to print)
van Dyck, Portrait of Brueghel

Portrait of Jan Brueghel

Etching, ca. 1630, from Iconography, 240 x 155 mm., Dutuit 1 vi/vi. Fair impression on laid paper with a foolscap watermark with narrow margins; pale staining, small tears repaired and a small portion of the upper left corner restored. Van Dyck made some twenty-one etchings himself, the vast majority of his Iconography being engraved by other artists after his drawings, and even most of the original portrait etchings being “finished” in engraving by others. This is one of the few that was not, only the text, the borderline and the background shading being added to his original work. Though hardly a prime example of the print, it is yet good enough to allow one to see the mastery of Van Dyck’s drawn and etched line and his ability to capture a personality.