Portret van kunstenaar Pietro Testa after 1647

This is a small, finely etched portrait of the artist Pietro Testa, made at an unknown date and by an anonymous artist. It is a study in the institutional construction of artistic identity. Consider how prints like this one circulated in 17th-century Europe. They could be included in books of artist biographies, collected as individual keepsakes, or sold in print shops. But how do we know it's Testa? The blank cartouche at the bottom was likely intended to carry his name. This is a clue that the print served as a kind of calling card, or a contribution to a collective effort to document the lives of artists. Looking at the print today in the Rijksmuseum, it is important to remember that the museum itself is an institution that shapes our understanding of art. Through careful archival research, we can try to reconstruct the social networks and cultural values that gave images like this one their meaning.