Portret van Alexander, prins der Nederlanden 1870 - 1949

Here is an engraving of Alexander, Prince of the Netherlands, of an unknown date and by an anonymous artist. I wonder, what was it like to be the engraver, and how did they approach the plate? I imagine them, bent over their workbench, squinting through their glasses, translating the world into a series of tiny lines, each one carefully placed to capture the nuances of light and shadow on Alexander’s face. And look at those lines, so delicate, so precise, they create the illusion of depth and texture, bringing this royal figure to life on a small surface. We will never know who this engraver was, yet they are part of the history of image-making. The artist’s work reflects a wider history of art, image-making, and storytelling. We see the ongoing conversation between artists across time, with each creation building upon what came before.