Simon Dreux d'Aubray
1658
Medium
Engraving; second state of two (Petitjean & Wickert)
Dimensions
Sheet: 17 3/8 × 12 13/16 in. (44.1 × 32.5 cm) Plate: 12 11/16 × 9 15/16 in. (32.3 × 25.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. Lev Tsitrin, 2001
Accession Number
2001.647.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *Simon Dreux d'Aubray* (1658), a masterful engraving by Robert Nanteuil, one of finest French portrait engravers of the 17th century Created during the reign of Louis XIV this second state of two—refined from its initial version—captures the sitter in exquisite detail on a generous sheet measuring 17 3/8 × 12 13/16 inches. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, exemplifies the era's obsession with precise, lifelike portraiture, gifted to the museum in 2001 by Mr. Lev Tsitrin. Nanteuil, a leading figure in French printmaking, elevated engraving to an ...
About the Artist
Robert Nanteuil · 1623–1678
Robert Nanteuil (1623-1678) was a French portrait engraver, draughtsman, and pastellist who became the preeminent portraitist to the court of Louis XIV. His technical mastery and royal patronage fundamentally transformed the status of engraving in France, elevating it from a mechanical craft to a recognized fine art. Nanteuil stands as the outstanding French portrait engraver of the seventeenth c...