Portrait of Cardinal Zacharias de Mez (c. 1661): Artwork and History

Portrait of Cardinal Zacharias de Mez (c. 1661) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Jan Visscher Dutch, 1633-1692.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

For centuries printmaking has been used as a tool for religious propaganda, spreading images of idolized figures to followers across the world for use in daily ritual. Jan Visscher’s posthumous portrait of the Belgian Cardinal Zacharias de Mez appears in an early, unlettered proof state and lacks all identifying features beyond his coat of arms. While he maintains a challenging, omniscient gaze, he is more recognizable to the masses as a religious figure through his miter, robe, and crucifix.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Cardinal Zacharias de Mez
• Date: c. 1661
• Artist attribution: Jan Visscher Dutch, 1633-1692
• Place of origin: Holland
• Medium: Engraving on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: Plate: 43 × 28.5 cm (16 15/16 × 11 1/4 in.); Sheet: 44.1 × 30.2 cm (17 3/8 × 11 15/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1923.1022

Collection credit

Gift of Horace S. Oakley

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.