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Egidius Sadeler II

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

Maker

Egidius Sadeler II (Flemish, 1570-1629)
After Hans von Aachen (Flemish

Title

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

Year

1603

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

engraving

Supports

Dimensions

Plate/Image: 33.8 x 25.4 cm (13 5/16 x 10 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

In Plate--In LC:S.C.M.tis(tis superscribed) pictor Iohan/ab Ach Inventor.; in LR:CV.PRIVIL/S. CAES. MAI:;around portrait:RVDOLPHVS II:ROMANORVM IMPERATOR AVGVSTVS:REX HVNGARIAE, BOHE:ETC.; 3-line Latin inscription, bottom margin:AVGVSTISSIMO, INVICTISSIMO, SAPIENTISS,... (see print for full inscription).

Marks: Partial watermark:shield with grapes on it.RISD Museum stamp in brown ink on verso.

Identification

State

only state

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Alice G. Taft, Marianna Taft, Hope Smith and Brockholst M. Smith

Object Number

45.113.18

Type

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

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

Label copy

In addition to those artists who worked directly for him, the engraver Hendrick Goltzius generated a number of followers who adopted his technique farther afield. Flemish-born Aegidius Sadeler II spent most of his career in Germany and then as imperial printmaker to a succession of Holy Roman Emperors at the court of Prague. Sadeler’s portrait exhibits all of Goltzius’s innovations, but on a less heroic scale. It also incorporates the delicate hatching and atmospheric, tonal background more typical of the Antwerp fine manner.

This official court portrait depicts the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (r. 1576-1612) wearing the victor's laurel crown and dressed in armor with a clasp bearing the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The inscription reads “Augustus, the triumphant emperor,” linking Rudolf to the glorious Roman ruler of the past. The eagle and fish-tailed goat at the top of the print were emblems used by Augustus. Bracketing the portrait are personifications of Rudolf’s enlightened reign.

Image use

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

Tombstone

Egidius Sadeler II (Flemish, 1570-1629)
After Hans von Aachen (Flemish
German, 1552-1615)
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1603
Engraving on medium weight cream laid paper
Plate/Image: 33.8 x 25.4 cm (13 5/16 x 10 inches)
Gift of Alice G. Taft, Marianna Taft, Hope Smith and Brockholst M. Smith 45.113.18

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