Portretten van Aart Jansz. Druyvestein

About this artwork

Prent opgenomen in: Mander, Karel van; Jongh, Jacobus de (vert.). Het leven der doorluchtige Nederlandsche en eenige Hoogduitsche schilders. Amsterdam: Steven van Esveldt, 1764.

Art Historical Context

This delicate etching by Jan l’Admiral, created in 1764, portrays the little-known Dutch painter Aart Jansz. Druyvestein. Measuring just 156 by 103 millimetres, the print was made to illustrate the Amsterdam edition of Karel van Mander’s classic biographical work, *Het leven der doorluchtige Nederlandsche en eenige Hoogduitsche schilders*. Originally published in 1604, van Mander’s text celebrated the lives and achievements of Northern European artists; this later translation kept that tradition alive for eighteenth-century readers. Etching was ideally suited to such book illustrations. The t...

About the Artist

Jan l'Admiral · 1699–1773

Jan l'Admiral (1699–1773) was a pioneering Dutch engraver whose mastery of color mezzotint technique and collaboration with leading anatomists made him a crucial figure in both artistic printmaking and scientific illustration. Born in Amsterdam in 1699 to an engraver father of the same name, l'Admiral belonged to a family of printmakers and received training that would position him at the forefron...