Denis Talon
1656
Medium
Engraving on paper
Dimensions
37.1 × 29.1 cm (14 5/8 × 11 1/2 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
93548
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Robert Nanteuil was one of the most esteemed portrait engravers of his time, combining the use of Claude Mellan’s swelling parallel lines with precisely executed cross-hatching and stippling, clusters of flecks or dots that create the impression of shadow. Here, in the creases of his subject’s sleeve, Nanteuil switches from lines to cross-hatching as the folds collapse inwards, juxtaposing the different marks to create a sense of depth. Denis Talon was the son of Omer Talon, and succeeded his fa...
About the Artist
Robert Nanteuil · 1623–1678
Robert Nanteuil (1623-1678) was a French portrait engraver, draughtsman, and pastellist who became the preeminent portraitist to the court of Louis XIV. His technical mastery and royal patronage fundamentally transformed the status of engraving in France, elevating it from a mechanical craft to a recognized fine art. Nanteuil stands as the outstanding French portrait engraver of the seventeenth c...