Portret van Alexandre Varet 1676

Étienne Gantrel made this print of Alexandre Varet in 1676 using etching and engraving. As a work of portraiture, it embodies the cultural values and institutional structures of 17th-century France. The visual codes in this image are carefully constructed to convey Varet’s status within the church. Note the clerical garb and the inscription noting his age at death and position as archdeacon. This image reflects the power of the church and the social hierarchy of the time. The accompanying text, with its references to faith, humility, and love of God, reinforces these associations. What can art historians make of this image? We can research the history of the French church, the biographies of Gantrel and Varet, and the conventions of portraiture in this period. This reveals how art is never neutral, but always shaped by the social conditions in which it is made and received.