Aluaso Semedo

Art Historical Context

This engraving by Balthasar Moncornet, dated 1657, presents a finely detailed portrait of Aluaso Semedo on laid paper. Created through the precise incising of lines into a metal plate, the medium allowed for sharp, reproducible images that could be printed in multiple impressions—an essential technique in the 17th century for sharing likenesses of notable figures across Europe. Moncornet, a French engraver active during the Baroque period, was renowned for his portrait work, which combined technical precision with an elegant rendering of costume and expression. The plate’s compact size (just over six inches tall) suggests it may have been designed for inclusion in books or personal albums, reflecting the era’s growing interest in accessible printed imagery. Now part of the National Gallery of Art’s collection through the generosity of John O’Brien, the print exemplifies how engravings served both as artistic records and cultural documents of their time.

About the Artist

Balthasar Moncornet

Balthasar Moncornet (c. 1600–1668) was a French engraver and print publisher who became one of the most prolific portrait printmakers of seventeenth-century France. Born in Rouen, he established a highly productive workshop in Paris on the Rue Saint-Jacques, the traditional center of the French print trade. Despite being blind in one eye — a remarkable handicap for an engraver — Moncornet produced...