Portret van Chlotharius III 1647 - 1678

This is Nicolas de Larmessin’s portrait of Chlotharius III, likely made in the late 17th century. It's an engraving, meaning the design was cut into a metal plate, inked, and then printed onto paper. The crisp lines and fine details speak to the skill of the engraver. Look closely, and you can see the hatching and cross-hatching used to create shading and volume. This was painstaking work, requiring immense control and precision. The process itself—the labor involved in translating an image into a matrix, then reproducing it—adds another layer of meaning. Engravings like this were not just about art, they were also about commerce. They were a way to disseminate images widely, to create a market for portraits and other subjects. This print participates in a larger economy of image-making. The demand for skilled engravers also reflects broader social and economic structures, where craftsmanship intersects with commercial enterprise. By appreciating the labor and context embedded in this print, we see how art is always intertwined with the world around it.