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Portrait of an unknown man
Wierix, Jan, born 1549 - Enlarge image
Portrait of an unknown man
- Object:
Portrait miniature
- Place of origin:
Antwerp, Belgium (possibly, drawn)
- Date:
ca. 1600 (drawn)
- Artist/Maker:
Wierix, Jan, born 1549 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Ink on vellum
- Credit Line:
Purchased with funds from the Murray Bequest
- Museum number:
P.91-1938
- Gallery location:
Portrait Miniatures, room 90a, case 8
Jan Wierix was born in Antwerp in 1549 and died in Brussels about 1618. He was an engraver, draughtsman and publisher. His first dated prints were published as early as 1568. By 1569 he was working for Christoph Plantin's publishing house, the Officina Plantiniana, and living in the Lombaardevest, among many other booksellers and engravers. He continued to work for a variety of publishers, as well as publishing his engravings himself. Apart from his engravings, Jan made many miniature pen drawings. Most signed and dated examples are from about 1607–8. These are drawn in a meticulous engraver-like technique, using dots and minute cross-hatching.
This portrait drawn in ink on vellum (fine animal skin) is a forerunner of a type of portrait art that became fashionable in the second half of the 17th century in England. Vellum is more durable than paper. Such small black and white portraits were called ‘plumbagos’, meaning black lead, but they were usually drawn in graphite and sometimes in ink. This portrait by Wierix is done in ink. ‘Plumbagos’ developed in the Netherlands in the late 16th century within the print trade. They developed from the printmakers’ original drawings on paper, from which a print would have been engraved. 'Plumbagos' were introduced into England when the monarchy was restored in 1660, by printmakers who returned home from exile abroad.
