Willem de Vos
1630/33
Medium
Etching and engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 23.9 × 13.9 cm (9 7/16 × 5 1/2 in.); Plate: 24.2 × 15.5 cm (9 9/16 × 6 1/8 in.); Sheet: 40.3 × 27.2 cm (15 7/8 × 10 3/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
56009
Art Historical Context
Anthony van Dyck created this striking portrait of Willem de Vos around 1630–33 as part of his celebrated *Iconography* series. A Flemish Baroque master renowned for his elegant and psychologically penetrating portraits, van Dyck here turns his attention to a fellow Antwerp painter. The work captures de Vos with refined dignity, reflecting the artist’s skill at conveying both status and inner character through subtle facial expression and posture. Executed in etching and engraving on ivory laid paper, the print demonstrates van Dyck’s innovative approach to reproductive portraiture. Etching a...
About the Artist
Anthony van Dyck · 1599–1641
Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist who revolutionized portrait painting and became the most influential court painter in 17th-century England. Born in Antwerp as the seventh of twelve children to a prosperous silk merchant, van Dyck displayed extraordinary artistic talent from childhood. He trained under Hendrick van Balen before joining Peter Paul Rubens's workshop as a...