RKD STUDIES

In the Inleyding, Van Hoogstraten expresses evident admiration for earlier printmakers such as Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533), and Hercules Segers (1589/90-1633/40); this interest may have been inculcated by Rembrandt, who treasured works by these artists in his own collection.¹ Curiously, however, Van Hoogstraten says nothing about Rembrandt's etchings, or his own. More significant are his references to the functionality of prints.

In Book 1, he observes that the inclusion of likenesses is essential for a historical account 'immortalizing illustrious men'. Verbal descriptions of brave deeds can go only so far, but when 'we are also shown their engraved likenesses, it seems that the pleasure of seeing them doubles our attention, and we regard their acts as though they had occurred in our own time'. As a contemporary example he mentions his friend Joachim Oudaen's book on ancient Roman rulers.² He could just as well have cited Matthijs Balen's history of Dordrecht, to which Van Hoogstraten himself contributed four portraits (discussed below), but perhaps that volume, published in 1677, was still in progress at the time this paragraph was written.

In his discussion of the artist's study of human anatomy, Van Hoogstraten makes good use of his own diagrammatic illustrations as didactic tools. He cites Albrecht Dürer's book on human proportion, which must have provided inspiration for his illustrations as well as his text.³

The most substantive discussion of printmaking occurs in Book 5 in a chapter devoted to 'making one's art public'. Van Hoogstraten recommends that the artist have his designs published in print: 'thus will your name fly around the world all the more swiftly'. Here he seems to be referring to reproductive printmaking; indeed, he sees the value of prints primarily in their ability to act as 'messengers and translators who divulge to us the content of artful works'. He observes that Dürer and Lucas van Leyden, both extraordinary painters, had earned more fame through printmaking, while in his own day, printmaking has become a profession in itself: 'the burin has become almost completely separated from the brush, and has become an occupation that demands a man's entire effort'. One reason for this may be the proliferation of techniques, which he goes on to summarize. After briefly discussing engraving and woodcut, he devotes the longest discussion to etching, which he considers 'more like drawing'. For those who would know more, he recommends Abraham Bosse's treatise as further reading, and, if a young artist wants to learn to make prints, 'let him take lessons from the most ingenious Romeyn de Hooghe'.⁴ The most novel technique he discusses is mezzotint, and here, he takes an opportunity to remind the reader of his privileged access at court, stating that Ruprecht van de Palts (1619-1682), an inventor of the medium, had given him an impression of one of his first mezzotints, The executioner, after a design by Jusepe Ribera [32].⁵

Van Hoogstraten's interest in these diverse techniques seems to have been more intellectual than practical. The technical differences between methods are competently summarized, but he offers no aesthetic appraisal of their relative merits. His own approach to printmaking remained firmly rooted in etching. The final medium discussed is the curious practice of printing from natural objects, such as leaves, an activity with a long history more tied to scientific inquiry than commercial art production.⁶ This brings him back to the topic of copies after original works of art, which he considers inferior but useful: 'for while the former are commonly hidden away in art collections, copies are sent around in all realms, and [artists] achieve through that such fame that the art lovers do not hesitate to travel for many days in order to behold the principals'. Although this discussion is primarily concerned with artistic self-promotion, when linked with the description of printing after nature it alludes to the superiority of God's creation over products of human manufacture.⁷

32
Ruprecht van de Palts after Jusepe de Ribera
Man with a turban holding the severed head of the Baptist, 1658
London (England), British Museum, inv./cat.nr. X,8.43