Portrait of a Young Boy with a Dog
mid-17th century
Medium
Mezzotint; third state of three
Dimensions
plate: 11 7/16 x 9 3/16 in. (29.1 x 23.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1918
Accession Number
18.29.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-17th century, artist Wallerant Vaillant captured innocence in *Portrait of a Young Boy a Dog*, a charming mezzotint print from Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection.illant, a pioneering print during the Dutch Golden Age, is celebrated for advancing mezzotint—a revolutionary intaglio technique invented around 1640. Unlike traditional engraving's sharp lines, mezzotint starts with a roughened copper plate that yields velvety blacks and subtle gradations of tone, mimicking the soft modeling of oil paintings. This third and final state of the plate represents the r...
About the Artist
Wallerant Vaillant · 1623–1677
Wallerant Vaillant (1623-1677) was a French-born Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker who pioneered the mezzotint technique in printmaking. Born in Lille on May 30, 1623, he died in Amsterdam on August 28, 1677, leaving behind a significant legacy as both a portraitist and innovator in graphic arts. Vaillant holds a distinguished place in art history as one of the first professional artists to...