Portrait of Jacob van Veen, after Maarten van Heemskerck

Art Historical Context

The etching presents a bust-length portrait of an older man turned slightly to his right, his lined face and direct gaze rendered with precise cross-hatching and fine linear detail. He wears a voluminous dark fur hat and heavy robes that fill the lower portion of the composition, the textures of fabric and fur conveyed through dense, controlled shading. The image is printed in rich black ink on chine collé, producing a delicate tonal surface against the lighter surrounding paper. Created in 1871 by Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart after a painting by Maarten van Heemskerck, the print reproduces a sixteenth-century portrait of Jacob van Veen. Van Heemskerck, active in the Northern Renaissance, was admired for his sharply observed likenesses. Nineteenth-century etchers such as Jacquemart frequently translated earlier paintings into print to circulate them more widely among collectors and students. This impression, published by P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. and printed by François Liénard, entered the Metropolitan Museum’s collection in 1912 through the Rogers Fund. It stands as a fine example of reproductive etching that preserves the character and detail of the original while showcasing the technical refinement of the medium.