Portrait of John van Mahlem

The reproductive print publications of the work of Raphael and Albrecht Dürer that Johan Nepomuk Strixner published in Munich in 1804 and 1808, respectively, established his reputation as an engraver and a lithographer of Old Master paintings and drawings. Strixner subsequently participated in a number of large-scale print projects including the reproduction of the most important works in the Bavarian royal painting galleries in Munich and Schleissheim. This activity culminated in 1827 with his dedication to copying in print the newly enlarged medieval and Renaissance painting collection assembled that same year by King Ludwig I of Bavaria for the Alte Pinakothek (Old Painting Gallery) in Munich.

This mezzotint, Portrait of a Man, which is after a 16th-century Dutch oil painting, falls within the period of Strixner’s association with this grand project. It serves as an example of his superior technical abilities. In it, he was able to capture the form and pictorial character of the original painting he reproduced, without turning the engraving into a lifeless copy of the original. This is apparent, for instance, in his concern for the all-important naturalism of the Northern Renaissance original, evidenced in the mezzotint by the depiction of the lifelike fur collar of the sitter and his detailed beard.