Dr. John Blow, Musical Composer and Organist
published 1700
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
plate: 24 × 15.4 cm (9 7/16 × 6 1/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1951.11.824
Art Historical Context
This engraving by Robert White, published in 1700, presents a formal portrait of Dr. John Blow, identified as a musical composer and organist. Created at the dawn of the eighteenth century, the print honors Blow’s role in English musical life during a period when composers and performers were increasingly celebrated through visual tributes. Such portraits helped preserve the memory of artistic figures for future generations. Executed in the engraving medium on a modest plate measuring 24 by 15.4 centimeters, the work exemplifies the reproductive printmaking techniques popular in Britain at th...
About the Artist
Robert White · 1645–1703
Robert White was a British engraver and draughtsman born in London in 1645, who became one of the most accomplished portrait engravers working in England during the latter decades of the seventeenth century. He trained under David Loggan, the Polish-born engraver who was among the dominant figures of portrait printmaking in Restoration England, and from Loggan he acquired both the technical master...