James I of England
published 1616
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 28.1 × 17.6 cm (11 1/16 × 6 15/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1951.11.198
Art Historical Context
Behold the regal portrait *James I of England*, a finely wrought engraving by the Dutch artist Simon van de Passe, in 1616. Measuring 28.1 × 17.6 cm, this print from the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection captures the monarch during the height of his reign (1603–1625), when he united the crowns of England and Scotland. Van de Passe, a master engraver active in England at the time, specialized in detailed likenesses of royalty, making this work a testament to the era's fascination with printed imagery. Engraving, the medium here, involved incising intricate lines into a copper plat...
About the Artist
Simon de Passe · 1590–1647
Simon de Passe (c. 1595–1647), born in Cologne to the renowned Dutch engraver and publisher Crispijn van de Passe the Elder and his wife Magdalene, grew up in a family dynasty of printmakers who had fled Antwerp due to religious persecution as Anabaptists. The second son among five siblings—four of whom became engravers, including brothers Crispijn II and Willem, and sister Magdalena—he trained un...