Portrait of Dr. Joan Sambuco Possibly 1574

This portrait of Dr. Joan Sambuco was made in Antwerp in 1574 by Johannes Sambucus as an engraving. Here we see the institutions of medicine and printing intersecting. Sambucus was a humanist scholar and physician and this print comes from his book of portraits of famous doctors and scholars. The image is full of visual codes relating to Sambuco’s profession and status. The classical architectural details and Latin text emphasize his learning. We also see animals such as eagles and goats that may have specific symbolic associations with medicine or scholarship in the 16th century. Produced in Antwerp, then a center of humanist learning and print culture, the print reflects the growing importance of the printed image in disseminating knowledge and constructing reputations. Works like this demonstrate how the institutions of art and science were mutually reinforcing in the early modern period. To understand this image fully, scholars might consult emblem books, medical texts, and archival records relating to the Plantin printing house, which produced the book.