Portret van August II van Saksen

About this artwork

height 303 mm x width 220 mm

Art Historical Context

Behold Johann Dürr's *Portret van August II vanen* (1654), a finely executed engraving measuring 303 mm high by 220 mm wide. This mid-17th-century portrait captures the likeness of August II, Elector of Saxony, in a medium that was revolutionary for its time. Engraving, where intricate lines are incised into a metal plate inked, and pressed onto paper, allowed for multiple impressions, making elite imagery accessible beyond the court. Created during the Baroque era, just after the devastating Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), the work reflects Saxony's resurgence as a key German electorate. Dürr...

About the Artist

Johann Dürr · 1600–1663

Johann Dürr (1600–1663) was a German copperplate engraver who worked primarily in Weimar during the mid-17th century, producing prints for court and scholarly patrons during the tumultuous period of the Thirty Years' War. Born in 1600, Dürr's career spanned one of the most devastating periods in German history, when religious conflict and military campaigns brought widespread destruction to German...