1668
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Jean-Baptiste van Steenberghen is a 1668 ink by Robert Nanteuil, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This is a black-and-white portrait of a man with curly hair and a mustache. He’s wearing a dark collar and a simple, high-necked shirt. The face is serious, with a direct gaze. The whole image is framed by a thick, decorative border made of lines and patterns. Notice how the artist used tiny parallel lines to build up shadows and texture—this is called cross-hatching. It gives the engraving depth without color. Check out more about cross-hatching to see how artists create light and shadow with just lines.
Robert Nanteuil (French pronunciation: ; 1623 – 9 December 1678) was a French portrait artist: engraver, draughtsman and pastellist to the court of Louis XIV.
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