Kiliaen Kiliaen Van Rensselaer
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1805
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1805
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This oval engraving shows a man in a dark coat, his face lit from the left. His expression is calm but sharp, like he’s judging something off-screen. The paper feels smooth under your fingers, but the ink sits deep in the tiny grooves. Van Rensselaer was a Dutch landowner who moved to New York in 1630. This portrait was done 175 years later, when his family still held power. The artist used a tool called a rocker to carve the shadows, making the image pop from the page. Check out Saint-Mémin, Charles B. J. Févret de next.
