Abraham van Lennep
17th century
Medium
Mezzotint
Dimensions
16 1/4 x 13 9/16 in. (41.3 x 34.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and gift of Payson Thompson, by exchange and the Elisha Whittelsey Collection, the Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1970
Accession Number
1970.576.1
Art Historical Context
In the heart of the Dutch Golden Age, this striking mezzotint portrait ofAbraham van Lennep captures the elegance of 17th-century Dutch portrait. Created by master printmaker Wallerant Vaillant in collaboration with painter Caspar Netscher, the dates to the mid-1600s. Vaillant, a Dutch innovator, is celebrated for pioneering the mezzotint technique around 1658—a revolutionary method that involved roughening a copper plate with a rocker tool to create rich, velvety tones, then scraping highlights for luminous effects. This allowed prints to rival the depth and subtlety of oil paintings, making ...
About the Artist
Wallerant Vaillant|Caspar Netscher · 1623–1677
Wallerant Vaillant (1623-1677) was a French-born Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker who pioneered the mezzotint technique in printmaking. Born in Lille on May 30, 1623, he died in Amsterdam on August 28, 1677, leaving behind a significant legacy as both a portraitist and innovator in graphic arts. Vaillant holds a distinguished place in art history as one of the first professional artists to...