Portrait of a Male Figure Wearing a Maltese Cross
17th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 7/8 × 11 9/16 in. (27.7 × 29.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.600.4301
Tags
Art Historical Context
This engraving by Grégoire Huret captures a dignified male sitter adorned with the distinctive eight-pointed Maltese Cross, a symbol traditionally associated with the Knights Hospitaller. Created in the 17th century, the work reflects the era’s fascination with chivalric orders and noble identity, as European printmakers often produced portraits to commemorate distinguished figures or members of religious-military societies. Huret, a skilled French engraver, specialized in such formal likenesses, blending precise line work with subtle tonal variation to convey both status and character. As an...
About the Artist
Grégoire Huret · 1606–1670
French draftsman and printmaker. Comment on works: Engraver & draftsman