Portret van Berchtold Haller

About this artwork

plaatrand: breedte 107 mm

Art Historical Context

This engraving by Robert Boissard, created between 1597 and 1599, presents a portrait of Berchtold Haller, a key Swiss reformer and theologian active in Bern during the Protestant Reformation. At just 144 mm high and 107 mm wide, the small-scale print reflects the intimate format often favored for portraits of religious and intellectual figures, allowing them to circulate widely in books, albums, or private collections. Engraving was a dominant printmaking technique in late-Renaissance Europe, prized for its ability to render fine lines and subtle shading on copper plates. Boissard’s precise ...

About the Artist

Robert Boissard · 1586–1691

Robert Boissard (c. 1570–after 1630) was a French engraver and draughtsman whose work exemplifies the transition from late Renaissance to early Baroque printmaking in France. Born around 1570 in Valence, Boissard belonged to an artistic family and was a relative of the distinguished scholar and artist Jean-Jacques Boissard (1528–1602), whose monumental biographical and archaeological publications ...