Antoon Cornelissen
1630/45
Medium
Etching and engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 21.1 × 15.3 cm (8 5/16 × 6 1/16 in.); Plate: 23.6 × 13.6 cm (9 5/16 × 5 3/8 in.); Sheet: 24.9 × 16.9 cm (9 13/16 × 6 11/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
55867
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This striking portrait of Antoon Cornelissen, created by Flemish printmaker Lucas Vorsterman between 1630 and 1645, exemplifies the refined printmaking traditions of the Baroque era. Vorsterman, celebrated for his meticulous reproductive engravings after major painters like Peter Paul Rubens, here employs a masterful combination of etching and engraving. The technique allows for both fluid, expressive lines and precise tonal modeling, capturing the sitter’s dignified presence with remarkable clarity on the ivory laid paper. Prints such as this played a vital cultural role in seventeenth-century Europe, enabling the wider circulation of portraits beyond the elite circles who could commission paintings. Measuring just over eight inches in height, the work demonstrates the intimate scale often favored for such graphic portraits. Its presence in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection of Prints and Drawings highlights the enduring value of these technically sophisticated works as both artistic achievements and historical documents of their time.
About the Artist
Lucas Emil Vorsterman · 1595–1675
Lucas Vorsterman the Elder, also known as Lucas Emil Vorsterman (1595–1675), was a preeminent Flemish Baroque engraver renowned for his reproductive prints after the era's leading painters. Born in Zaltbommel in the Dutch province of Gelderland to a family of artists, his early life remains sparsely documented beyond the fact that he began practicing engraving at the age of twelve. Around 1617–161...