Portret van Wilhelm graaf Verdugo 1603 - 1650

This portrait of Wilhelm Graf Verdugo was created by Matthäus Merian the Elder. The artwork is an engraving, a printmaking technique that relies on the precise, controlled removal of material to create an image. Here, the artist would have used a tool called a burin to incise lines into a copper plate, and the depth and spacing of these lines create the tonal variations we see in the print. Ink is then applied to the plate, filling the etched lines, and then the surface is wiped clean. The image is transferred to paper under high pressure using a printing press. Consider how the very act of engraving, with its demand for detailed, meticulous labor, mirrors the hierarchical social structures of the time. The portrait itself, with its intricate details of armor, crests, and Latin inscriptions, speaks to power, status, and lineage. This artwork would have been a means of reproducing and disseminating such images, thereby reinforcing social structures through print culture.