Portrait of an unknown man thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Portrait Miniatures, Room 90a, The International Music and Art Foundation Gallery

Portrait of an unknown man

Portrait Miniature
ca. 1600 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

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.

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read Portrait miniatures: other types of small portraiture Portrait miniatures first appeared in the 1520s at the courts of Henry VIII in England, and Francis I in France. These small portraits were painted in watercolour on vellum, and protected in lockets or small boxes, making it easy for them to be carried or even worn. The success of the port...

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePortrait of an unknown man (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Ink on vellum
Brief description
Portrait miniature in ink on vellum, depicting an unknown man by Jan Wierix (b. 1549). Belgium, ca. 1600.
Physical description
Portrait miniature drawing, ink on vellum, depicting an unknown man
Dimensions
  • Height: 61mm
  • Width: 46mm
Credit line
Purchased with funds from the Murray Bequest
Subject depicted
Summary
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.
Bibliographic references
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1938, London: Board of Education, 1939.
  • Summary Catalogue of Miniatures in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Haslemere: Emmett Microform, 1981.
  • Jane Shoaf Turner and Robert-Jan te Rijdt, " Miscellania. V&A: ’The ones that got away’", Sculpsit & Delineavit, no. 42 (Jan 2018), pp. 91-97, fig.5
Collection
Accession number
P.91-1938

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Record createdJuly 11, 2003
Record URL
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