Anna Maria Vaiani
Medium
Engraving; first state of two (BN)
Dimensions
sheet: 4 15/16 x 3 5/8 in. (12.6 x 9.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.4449
Tags
Art Historical Context
Claude Mellan's *Anna Maria Vaiani*1624–36) is a delicate engraving capturing the poised likeness of its namesake subject, a woman rendered with exquisite precision on a modest sheet measuring just under 5 by 3 5/8 inches. As a first-state impression of two (BN), this rare early version preserves the plate's pristine details before any later alterations, offering collectors and scholars a glimpse into the engraver's evolving process. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it entered the collection via The Elisha Whittelsey Fund in 1951, exemplifying 17th-cen...
About the Artist
Claude Mellan|Anna Maria Vaiani · 1598–1688
Claude Mellan (1598-1688) was a French draughtsman, engraver, and painter who became one of the most innovative printmakers of the French Baroque period. Born in Abbeville to a family of coppersmiths, Mellan rose to become Peintre et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi (Painter and Engraver in Ordinary to the King), achieving recognition for his extraordinary technical mastery. Mellan's artistic significanc...