Pieter de Jode II’s etching with engraving, “Portrait of Jan Snellincx”, after Van Dyck, 1630

Pieter de Jode II (aka Pieter de Iode; Petrus iunior de Jode; Pieter de Jonge Jode) (1606–70/74)

“Portrait of Jan Snellincx” or “Ioannes Snellincx”, 1630 (published in 1645), after Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), from the series “Icones Principum Virorum.”

Etching and engraving (the BM advise that there are “traces of oxidisation on the plate”) on laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 26.3 x 17.9 cm; (plate) 23.4 x 15.3 cm; (image borderline) 20.9 x 14.9 cm

Lettered below the image borderline: (centre) "IOANNES SNELLINCX / PICTOR HVMANARVM FIGVRANRVM ANTVERPIÆ. / IN AVLÆIS ET TAPETIBVS."

Inscribed below the image borderline: (left) "Ant. van Dyck pinxit. / Pet. de Iode Sculp."; (right) "Cum priuilegio."

State vii (of vii with the initials of Gillis Hendricx burnished)

Hollstein 157 (Jode); Mauquoy-Hendrickx 1991 37.VII; New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 9 (Van Dyck; copy); New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 91.VII (Van Dyck)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Portrait of Jan Snellincx, half-length, turned slightly to the right but facing the left; with moustache and goatee, wearing a scullcap, a heavily draped doublet and a sash around his waist, his left hand resting on his abdomen, clouds in the background; seventh state with the initials of Gillis Hendricx burnished; after Anthony van Dyck Etching and engraving with traces of oxidisation on the plate” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1427290&partId=1&searchText=R,1b.5.&page=1)

Condition: richly inked, crisp and beautifully printed impression with good margins of approximately 1.5 cm in excellent condition for its age and only a tiny closed tear at the upper-right corner. There are remnants of mounting and previous collector’s notes verso.

I am selling this museum-quality print for the total cost of AU$206 (currently US$158.28/EUR138.62/GBP122.10 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this absolutely beautiful etching (with engraving), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This portrait of the Flemish painter, Jan Snellincx (1544–1638), is arguably best remembered for his battle scenes and, as the Fritzwilliam Museum points out, the “rising smoke in the background” of this portrait is perhaps an allusion to such battle scenes (http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/vandyck/biographies/jansnellinck.1.html).

Although the print was inscribed by Pieter de Jode II, to my eyes the original compositional arrangement crafted by Van Dyck—the preliminary drawing for this print is now in the Duke of Devonshire’s collection at Chatsworth—is what makes this print so engaging to contemplate. From my reading of the composition, I see Snellincx responding jovially to someone, or some incident, lying outside of the borderline of the image and I feel drawn into trying to determine what he is thinking.

Beyond this marvellous portrait, Van Dyck had a much grander vision. According to the curator of the British Museum, he envisaged creating:

“… a print publication containing portraits of the most prominent men during his lifetime, divided into three categories: princes, politicians and soldiers (16), statesmen and scholars (12), artists and art connoisseurs (52). The initial idea could have been that Van Dyck would etch the faces (a process possibly learnt from Vorsterman) while others would finish the plates in engraving. Designs were needed for the plates and several drawings and oil sketches (grisailles, sometimes in different versions) have survived. Van Dyck only etched 17 plates himself, while he commissioned others to complete the set, overseen by Lucas Vorsterman I (especially after Van Dyck settled in England in the Spring of 1632). Although this project was started by Van Dyck around 1630, he never saw it completed.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1422752&partId=1&people=101862&peoA=101862-1-6&page=1)