Portrait of Michel de Marolles
Medium
Engraving; first state (?) of three (BN)
Dimensions
sheet: 9 3/16 x 6 3/4 in. (23.3 x 17.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.601.280
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant 1648 engraving captures Michel de Marolles, a prominent French abbé, writer, and art collector of the seventeenth century. Created by the engraver Claude Mellan, the portrait presents its subject with quiet dignity, incorporating a coat of arms that his noble lineage and scholarly standing. Produced during the reign of Louis XIV, the work reflects the era’s growing interest in printed portraits as a means of preserving the likenesses of influential figures for wider audiences. Mellan’s engraving technique is evident in the precise lines and subtle tonal variations that bring dept...
About the Artist
Claude Mellan|Michel de Marolles · 1598–1688
Claude Mellan (1598-1688) was a French draughtsman, engraver, and painter who became one of the most innovative printmakers of the French Baroque period. Born in Abbeville to a family of coppersmiths, Mellan rose to become Peintre et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi (Painter and Engraver in Ordinary to the King), achieving recognition for his extraordinary technical mastery. Mellan's artistic significanc...