Portrait of Dante Alighieri

Art Historical Context

This elegant engraving, *Portrait of Dante Aligh* (ca. 1595), showcases the collaborative talents of Flemish artists Jan van der Straet ( Stradanus), who likely designed the image, and the engravers Philips Galle and his son Cornelis Galle I. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it measures 10 5/8 x 7 7/8 inches and captures the legendary Italian poet in a classic profile view, evoking ancient Roman coins and Renaissance ideals of humanism. Engraving, a precise intaglio technique where lines are incised into a metal plate and inked under pressure, was a h...