Portret van Johann Heinrich Hampe

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

This intimate portrait print captures Johann Heinrich Hampe through the precise technique of letterpress printing, a method more commonly associated with text but here employed to reproduce a likeness clarity and reproducibility. Created by Irish engraver Thomas Burke sometime between 1759 and 1815, the small sheet—measuring just 114 132 millimeters—likely served as a book illustration or keepsake, allowing Hampe’s image to circulate among scholars, collectors, or acquaintances during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The work’s modest scale and printing medium highlight the growing importance of affordable portraiture in an era when personal imagery began reaching wider audiences beyond painted originals. A collector’s stamp on the reverse (Lugt 2228) further enriches its story, marking the print’s journey through distinguished collections and underscoring the long-standing appreciation for such graphic works among print enthusiasts. Visitors can appreciate how this unassuming sheet connects artistic reproduction with personal legacy, preserving Hampe’s presence through the enduring power of print.