Image

Previous image 1 2 / 2 Next image

Cornelis de Visscher

Portrait of Gellius de Bouma

Description

Maker

Cornelis de Visscher (Dutch, 1628/29-1658

Title

Portrait of Gellius de Bouma

Year

ca. 1656

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

etching, engraving

Supports

Dimensions

Plate/Image: 36.4 x 27.3 cm (14 5/16 x 10 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Verso:in pencil, LL:36451 ; in LR:Fvn nv(nv superscribed)In Plate--In LL: C. de Visscher/ ad viuum deli./ et sculp. ; titled, LC:GELLIUS DE BOVMA ECCLESIASTES ZUTPHANIENSIS OVT INT 77 IAER E

Marks: R.I.S.D. Museum stamp brown ink on verso

Identification

State

2nd of 6

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.1149

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line
Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Sep 18, 2009 – Jan 03, 2010

Label copy

The engravers who work for Peter Paul Rubens had a rapid impact outside of their immediate circle. Their facility for creating an immensely subtle range of tones was particularly successful for portraiture as well as for the reproduction of paintings. Here, Cornelis Visscher depicted with striking naturalism the ruddy face, glossy coat, and silken beard of a clergyman. The sculptural volumes refer to Hendrik Goltzius, and the overall tonal subtleties, to Rubens.

Gellius Peri de Bouma (about 1579-1658) was the preacher of the Reformed Protestant Church in Zutphen. The inscription alludes to his venerable age of seventy-seven and his fifty-five years of service. In the style of Dutch portraits of the day, de Bouma looks straight into the viewer’s eye and raises his hand as if about to speak.

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Cornelis de Visscher (Dutch, 1628/29-1658
ca. 1619/1629 - ca. 1663)
Portrait of Gellius de Bouma, ca. 1656
Engraving on medium weight cream laid paper
Plate/Image: 36.4 x 27.3 cm (14 5/16 x 10 3/4 inches)
Bequest of Isaac C. Bates 13.1149

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.