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Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (1532-1588), English Nobleman, Governor-General of the United Provinces in 1585-87

A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.

Date:

1586

Artist:

Hendrick Goltzius
Dutch, 1558-1617

About this artwork

Like the related genre of painted miniatures, small-scale portrait prints require close inspection and delicate handling. The round format of these prints invites comparisons to oval miniatures and cast medallions. In the case of Goltzius’s portrait of Dudley (and other examples from the artist’s oeuvre), the print matrix—a gold plate—was itself a work of art, and only a handful of impressions were pulled so as to preserve the surface of the soft precious metal. The double status of the print matrix also explains why the text appears reversed in the print; on the face of the gold plate, the letters would still appear in the correct direction.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Hendrick Goltzius

Title

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (1532-1588), English Nobleman, Governor-General of the United Provinces in 1585-87

Place

Netherlands (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1586

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image/sheet, trimmed within platemark: 6.1 × 5.2 cm (2 7/16 × 2 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Morris Woolf

Reference Number

1941.432

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/41669/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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