1627
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Henry de Vere, Eighteenth Earl of Oxford is a 1627 ink by John Payne, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This is a black-and-white portrait of a man in old-fashioned clothes. He wears a wide-brimmed hat, a ruffled collar, and a fur-lined cloak. His right hand rests on a cane, and his left hand holds a folded piece of paper or a small book. The lines in the image are sharp, showing every fold in his clothes and every curl in his hair. The artist used tiny, crisscrossed lines to create shadows and texture—this is called cross-hatching. It makes the portrait look detailed and three-dimensional. If you like this style, check out more examples of engraving.
John Payne (1607–1647) was an English engraver, who was one of the earliest exponents of the art of engraving in England. His best work was the finest produced by a native-born engraver working during the reign of Charles I.
See the richer artist page
