Jonas Witsen, Burgemeester der Stad Amsterdam
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Plate: 6 7/8 × 4 1/2 in. (17.5 × 11.5 cm) Sheet: 11 1/4 × 9 1/16 in. (28.5 × 23 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Accession Number
17.3.756-2510
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant portrait print depicts Jonas Witsen, a prominent burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam in the mid-eighteenth century. Created around 1749, the work captures the dignified presence of a civic leader during the Dutch Republic’s later Golden Age, when Amsterdam remained a vital center of trade and governance. The image likely reproduces a painted original by Frans van der Mijn, translated into print form by the skilled engraver Jacob Houbraken, whose precise line work helped disseminate portraits of notable Dutch figures across Europe. Executed in etching and engraving, the print demonst...
About the Artist
Jacob Houbraken|Frans van der Mijn (Italian|Dutch) · 1700 |1698 –1753 |1780
Italian, Bologna 1700–1753 Bologna|Dutch, Dordrecht 1698–1780 Amsterdam