Mask of a Bald Man with Tufty Sideburns, from Divers Masques
ca. 1635–45
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/8 × 1 9/16 in. (6.1 × 4 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1945
Accession Number
45.101.44
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate etching, created around 1635– by François Chauveau Jacques Van Merlen, belongs to the series *Divers Masques* (Various Masks). Measuring just over two inches tall, the print captures a bald character with distinctive tufty sideburns, rendered in fine lines that highlight the mask’s exaggerated features. Chauveau, a prominent French engraver and illustrator, often collaborated on ornamental designs, while Van Merlen contributed his Flemish precision to the etching process. In the seventeenth century, such mask designs served both theatrical and decorative purposes. They reflected...
About the Artist
François Chauveau|Jacques Van Merlen · 1613–1676
Comment on works: Miniature painter; History; Genre; Portraits