Art Institute of Chicago

Standard Bearer

Prince Rupert of the Rhine (German, 1619-1682)

Date

1658

Medium

Mezzotint, with touches of engraving, in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

Germany

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

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.

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