The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

The Little Executioner

The Little Executioner

1662
(German, 1619–1682)
(Spanish, 1591–1652)
Catalogue raisonné: Smith IV.1773.7
Location: not on view

Description

Prince Ruprecht of the Rhine—a nobleman who was the nephew of England’s King Charles I—was among the earliest practitioners of mezzotint, a printmaking technique first used in Germany in the 1600s. Prince Ruprecht is credited with bringing the technique to England around 1660, where he introduced it to John Evelyn, who was engaged in writing a book on the history of printmaking. Ruprecht created this image (after a painting thought to be by Jusepe de Ribera) to illustrate the mezzotint process in Evelyn’s book, making it the first mezzotint printed in England.
  • A Lasting Impression: Gifts of the Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 5-September 22, 2019).
    Real Prints: Reproduction or Invention. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 7-May 17, 1987).
    Eight Masters of the Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 14, 1980-January 18, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=The Little Executioner|url=false|author=Prince Ruprecht, Jusepe de Ribera|year=1662|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1947.153