Portret van Jan Rokycana

About this artwork

collector's mark: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

**Portret van Jan Rokyc** is a delicate engraving by Jan Balzer, created sometime between 1746 and1799. This intimate portrait captures Jan Rokycana (c. 1396–1471), the influential Archbishop of Prague and a key figure in the 15th-century Hussite movement—a Protestant reform effort that challenged Catholic authority in Bohemia. Balzer, likely an 18th-century Dutch engr, revives Rokycana's likeness in small format (167 × 112 mm), making it a portable tribute to a reformer whose sermons and leadership shaped early religious dissent in Europe. Engraving, an intaglio printmaking technique, allowe...