Artwork Information

When Anthony van Dyck began to etch a small number of portraits of his contemporaries in the 1630s, he initiated a series of portrait prints which would eventually number close to 200 and become known as the Iconography.

The subjects of the portraits were figures prominent in public life from throughout Europe, including statesmen, scholars and artists. Van Dyck etched approximately 17 portraits himself but these only became a part of the series after his death. A group of approximately 80 prints were made after his designs (and with his personal involvement) by professional printmakers and were in circulation during Van Dyck’s lifetime.