Henry IV, King of France
Medium
Engraving on paper
Dimensions
Plate: 13.7 × 9.8 cm (5 7/16 × 3 7/8 in.); sheet: 20.3 × 15.6 cm (8 × 6 3/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
267679
Art Historical Context
Behold *Henry IV, King of France (1596), a delicate engraving by the renowned Dutch printmaker Crispijn van de I. This intimate portrait, measuring just 13.7 × 9.8 cm on the plate, captures the of Henry IV during a pivotal moment in his reign. Van de Passe, a master engraver from Antwerp active in the late 16th century, was celebrated for his precise reproductive prints that popularized images of royalty and nobility across Europe. Created amid the French Wars of Religion, this work reflects Henry IV's rising prominence as the first Bourbon king, who had navigated religious strife by converti...
About the Artist
Crispijn van de Passe, I · 1565–1637
Crispijn van de Passe the Elder, born around 1564 in the coastal town of Arnemuiden in Zeeland, emerged as a pivotal figure in Northern European printmaking during a turbulent era. He relocated to Antwerp at a young age, the bustling epicenter of engraving, where he trained and worked from 1580 onward, becoming a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in the 1584–1585 guild year. The Spanish siege and ...