Portrait of Emperor Matthias
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 65.2 × 41.7 cm (25 11/16 × 16 7/16 in.); Plate: 68.2 × 42.6 cm (26 7/8 × 16 13/16 in.); Sheet: 68.3 × 46.7 cm (26 15/16 × 18 7/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
222243
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This portrait was made only a few years after Matthias forced his brother Rudolf II to relinquish control of the Holy Roman Empire. Surrounding the sculpted bust of Matthias is a wreath with medallion portraits of earlier Habsburg emperors (including Rudolf II). The placement of the Roman god Mercury and goddess Minerva on either side signify Matthias’s eloquence and wisdom, respectively. The subjects of his realm, shown at the bottom wearing western and Turkish clothing, look up at him with awe...
About the Artist
Aegidius Sadeler, II · 1570–1629
Aegidius Sadeler II was born in Antwerp around 1570 into the most distinguished printmaking dynasty of the sixteenth century. The Sadeler family — spanning Jan I, Raphael, and Aegidius I — dominated the European print trade from their Flemish base, and Aegidius II was trained by his uncle Jan Sadeler I, under whom he was listed as a pupil in the records of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1585. He...