Head of an Old Woman (Visscher's Mother)

Art Historical Context

Cornelis Visscher’s *Head of an Old Woman*, created around 1650, offers an intimate glimpse into 17th-century Dutch portraiture. Working during the Dutch Golden Age, Visscher specialized in finely detailed prints that captured the character and dignity of his subjects. This work, often interpreted as a portrait of the artist’s own mother, reflects the period’s growing interest in realistic depictions of everyday individuals rather than solely the wealthy or powerful. Executed in etching and engraving, the print combines the fluid lines of etching with the precise, controlled marks of engravin...

About the Artist

Cornelis Visscher · 1629–1658

Cornelis Visscher (1629–1658) was a Dutch Golden Age engraver, draughtsman, and printmaker born in Haarlem, the brother of fellow artists Jan de Visscher and Lambert Visscher. Little is known of his early life, but he studied under the Haarlem painter and engraver Pieter Claesz Soutman, with whom he closely collaborated from 1649 to 1650, producing numerous portrait engravings for Soutman's print ...