Portret van Pieter Danckerts de Rij 1628 - 1670

This is a portrait of Pieter Danckerts de Rij, made by Pieter de Jode II sometime in the 17th century. It is a print, which means that it was created through a reproductive process – an image incised into a metal plate, inked, and then transferred to paper. The material character of this print offers some clues about the period in which it was made. The clarity of line, the stark contrast between light and shadow, speaks to a highly skilled artisan. It also speaks to the rise of printmaking as an industry, the way that images could be multiplied and disseminated widely. This had a democratizing effect, making art more accessible, but it also introduced a new kind of labor – the skilled work of the printmaker, often overlooked in favor of the originating artist. So, while this portrait ostensibly presents a single person, it also reveals a whole network of makers and the economy in which they operated. This reminds us that every artwork is, in fact, the result of collective effort, and of the social conditions that make its production possible.