Christopher Carleill
1551 to 1600
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 19.2 × 13 cm (7 9/16 × 5 1/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1950.14.259
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Behold *Christopher Carleill*, a finely detailed engraving by the French artist Robert Boissard, sometime between 1551 and1600. Measuring a modest 19.2 × 13 cm on its sheet, this intimate print captures the likeness of its namesake subject—likely an English naval figure of the Elizabethan era—within the National Gallery of Art's Rosen Collection (Department CG-E). Boissard, active during the late Renaissance, specialized in such portraits, blending technical precision with the era's fascination for commemorating prominent individuals. Engraving, the medium here, was a revolutionary intaglio t...
About the Artist
Robert Boissard · 1586–1691
Robert Boissard (c. 1570–after 1630) was a French engraver and draughtsman whose work exemplifies the transition from late Renaissance to early Baroque printmaking in France. Born around 1570 in Valence, Boissard belonged to an artistic family and was a relative of the distinguished scholar and artist Jean-Jacques Boissard (1528–1602), whose monumental biographical and archaeological publications ...