John Caius, Co-Founder of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge

Art Historical Context

This elegant engraving portrays John Caius (1510–1573), the distinguished physician and scholar who refounded Gonville Hall as Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in 1557. Created by the Dutch siblings Willem and Magdalena de Passe and published in 1620, the print preserves Caius’s image for posterity long after his death, emphasizing his enduring legacy in medicine and education. The modest sheet size—roughly 15.5 by 11.9 centimeters—made the work ideal for inclusion in books or personal collections, allowing students and admirers to carry a reminder of his contributions. Willem and Magdalena de Passe belonged to a renowned family of engravers whose detailed line work captured the textures of fur collars, academic robes, and scholarly attributes with remarkable precision. Their collaborative practice highlights the growing role of women in printmaking during the early seventeenth century. As an engraving, the portrait could be reproduced in multiple impressions, spreading Caius’s likeness across England and Europe at a time when visual commemoration of university founders helped reinforce institutional identity and prestige. Today, this Rosenwald Collection impression at the National Gallery of Art offers visitors a window into seventeenth-century academic culture and the power of prints to shape historical memory.

About the Artist

Willem de Passe and Magdalena de Passe

**Willem van de Passe and Magdalena van de Passe: Engraving Prodigies of the Van de Passe Dynasty** Willem van de Passe (c. 1597/98–c. 1636/37) and his sister Magdalena van de Passe (1600–1638) were standout engravers in the illustrious Van de Passe family, a dynasty of Dutch printmakers founded by their father, Crispijn van de Passe the Elder. Born in Cologne amid the family's flight from religi...