Prince Rupert of the Rhine (German, 1619-1682)
after Pietro della Vecchia (Italian, 1605-1678)
Standard Bearer
INV-4035
Prince Rupert of the Rhine (German, 1619-1682)
after Pietro della Vecchia (Italian, 1605-1678)1658
Standard Bearer
Prince Rupert of the Rhine (German, 1619-1682) after Pietro della Vecchia (Italian, 1605-1678) →mezzotintprint
Date
1658
Medium
Mezzotint, with touches of engraving, in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 27.5 × 19.7 cm (10 7/8 × 7 13/16 in.); Sheet: 27.8 × 20.2 cm (11 × 8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Prince Rupert’s Standard Bearer, also known as Young David or Great Lansquenet, is one of his first dated mezzotints, created the same year Rupert engraved his Great Executioner. Standard Bearer demonstrates the pitfalls of reproducing Old Masters instead of newer paintings with clear authorship: most were attributed incorrectly, including this former “Giorgione.” Likewise, Valentine Green fancifully reproduced a Rembrandt self-portrait as an image of Rupert himself in 1775; Green’s skill nonetheless convinced Charles Theodore, current Prince and Count Palatinate, to appoint him his official mezzotint engraver.