Michel Colbert
Medium
engraving
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1974.116.30
Art Historical Context
This engraving, created in 1680 by Peter Ludwig van Schuppen after a design by Claude Lefebvre, presents a formal portrait of Michel Colbert. As a reproductive print, it translates Lefebvre’s painted likeness into the precise lines and tonal contrasts characteristic of engraving, allowing the image to reach a wider audience than the original work could. Van Schuppen, a skilled Flemish-born printmaker active in France, specialized in such translations, capturing the textures of fabric, hair, and expression with remarkable clarity. Produced during the height of Louis XIV’s reign, the print refl...