Antoine Masson’s Portrait of Henri de Lorraine, Count of Harcourt, after Nicolas Mignard (1667) stands as a monument to seventeenth-century engraving. A student of the french master engraver Robert Nanteuil, Masson created an image that incorporates every style and technique that Nanteuil had developed in pursuit of his art. He articulated with meticulous detail the intricacies of lace, soft hair, leather, the sheen of armor, feathers, and even the iridescence of a pearl earring. It is a veritable thesis on engraving techniques.

from Calendar of Events, October-December 2014