Man in a Turban Facing Left
17th century
Medium
Etching; fourth state
Dimensions
Plate: 6 3/8 × 5 5/8 in. (16.2 × 14.3 cm) Sheet: 6 7/8 × 6 1/8 in. (17.4 × 15.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1970
Accession Number
1970.553
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the intricate world of 17th-century Dutch printmaking with *Man in a Turban Left*, an etching by Jan Lievens Created during the Dutch Golden Age, this work captures a striking profile of a man in headwear, evoking the era's fascination with exotic portraits and expressive "tronies"—character studies that emphasized dramatic poses and attire. Lievens, a-born artist and close contemporary of Rembrandt, excelled in such intimate, character-driven compositions, blending realism with theatrical flair. As a fourth-state etching, this print represents a refined stage in Lievens' meticulous...
About the Artist
Jan Lievens · 1607–1674
Jan Lievens (1607–1674) was born in Leiden and showed exceptional artistic promise from an early age, beginning his training with the local painter Joris van Schooten before traveling to Amsterdam around 1617 to study for two years under Pieter Lastman—the same teacher who would later instruct Rembrandt van Rijn. Lievens and Rembrandt, near-contemporaries born in the same city, subsequently shared...