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Portrait of a Sculptor (Alessandro Vittoria) (after Giovanni Battista Moroni)

David Teniers the Younger1650/1656

The Courtauld Institute of Art

The Courtauld Institute of Art
London, United Kingdom

In 1660, the Flemish artist David Teniers published the
Theatrum Pictorium, or ‘Theatre of Painting’, the first
printed and illustrated catalogue of a major paintings
collection. The collection belonged to Archduke Leopold
Wilhelm
, governor of the Southern Netherlands (modern-
day Belgium) from 1646 to 1656. During that time, Leopold
Wilhelm acquired more than 1,300 paintings spanning two
centuries.
The catalogue illustrates 243 of them, most from the Italian
Renaissance. In preparation, Teniers painted copies in oil
paint on small wooden panels working directly from the
originals. He sent these small copies to specialist engravers
who reproduced them as prints for the publication.
The Courtauld owns 14 of these copies, the largest number
in any public collection. They are a valuable record of
paintings that have since been altered or lost. They also
show Teniers’s remarkable skill and the growing interest in
the art of the past.

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  • Title: Portrait of a Sculptor (Alessandro Vittoria) (after Giovanni Battista Moroni)
  • Creator: David Teniers the Younger
  • Creator Lifespan: 1610-1690
  • Date Created: 1650/1656
  • Physical Dimensions: 22.9 x 27.7 cm
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Photo Ⓒ The Courtauld
  • External Link: Explore The Courtauld's collection
  • Medium: Oil paint on panel
  • Acquisition Credit: Princes Gate bequest, 1978
The Courtauld Institute of Art

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