Portret van schilder Daniele Crespi 1744 - 1844

Paolo de Albertis made this print of painter Daniele Crespi in the 19th century. The print testifies to the 19th-century interest in Italian art of the Seicento, and the canonization of certain artists. Prints like this one played an important role in the art world. They were a means of circulating images of paintings, drawings, and sculptures to a broader public. The inscription indicates that it was made for a specific audience. Crespi is called "Pitt. Milanese", i.e. "Painter from Milan", indicating that this image was meant to assert and celebrate a local artistic identity. The Museo di Brera in Milan was founded in 1809, and part of its mission was to collect exemplary works by artists who had been active in the region. De Albertis’s print of Crespi can be seen as part of this wider cultural and institutional project. To fully understand artworks, we need to research not only the artist and the portrayed but also the institutions, cultural and political contexts of their time.