Portret van Christiaan Cornelis

About this artwork

De prent is een pendant van 'Portret van Wiert Adels' van dezelfde prentmaker.

Art Historical Context

**Portret van Christiaan Corn** is a striking engraving by Charles Howard Hodges, between 1794 and1796. Measuring 310 mm high by 220 mm wide, this captures the likeness of Christiaan Cornelis, a figure from the late 18th-century Dutch world. Hodges, a British engraver who settled in Amsterdam in 1789, was renowned for his precise reproductive prints, often translating paintings into accessible engravings that could be widely collected and displayed. This work forms a pendant—a matched pair—with Hodges' *Portret van Wiert Adels*, suggesting the two subjects were connected, perhaps as contemporaries, colleagues, or family members in the vibrant cultural scene of the Dutch Republic's final years. Produced amid the political upheavals leading to the Batavian Revolution of 1795, such portraits reflect the era's emphasis on individual legacy and enlightenment ideals. Engraving's meticulous technique allowed Hodges to achieve rich tonal depth and fine detail, making elite portraits available beyond oil paintings' exclusivity. As a pendant set, these prints would have adorned bourgeois homes, underscoring the democratizing power of printmaking in 18th-century Europe. A testament to Hodges' skill, this piece invites us to ponder Cornelis' story through enduring lines etched in copper.

About the Artist

Charles Howard Hodges · 1764–1837

Comment on works: Portraits; Engraver