Nicolas Fouquet

About this work

This is a black-and-white portrait of a man with curly hair and a serious expression. He’s wearing a dark collar with a white lace edge, and his face is framed by a round, decorative border. Below the portrait, there’s a coat of arms with lions and a crown, plus some writing in a fancy script. The artist used fine lines to create shadows and texture, which makes the face look three-dimensional. This kind of detailed linework is called cross-hatching. Check out more about engraving to see how artists build depth with just lines.