Artwork
Les divers pourtraicts et figures II
Les divers pourtraicts et figures II is an ink print by the Baroque artist Master AD. It dates from 1600 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Les divers pourtraicts et figures II is an early‑17th‑century engraving attributed to the anonymous Master AD. Executed around 1600, the print measures roughly 30 × 20 cm and is rendered entirely in black line on paper. Its composition centers on three laboring figures, each engaged in the strenuous act of bearing massive objects within an architectural setting.
Subject & Meaning
The image presents three muscular men straining under the weight of oversized items—a stone, a basket of fruit, and a similar heavy mass. Their exaggerated effort, evident in sweat and tense posture, underscores themes of physical labor and human endurance, possibly alluding to classical allegories of strength or the virtues of toil.
Technique & Style
Master AD employs densely worked hatching and cross‑hatching to model flesh, cloth, and stone, achieving a sculptural illusion on a flat surface. The fine, incised lines articulate every bulge of muscle and fold of garment, while the architectural arches and columns in the background provide spatial depth and a sense of order typical of Northern European printmaking of the period.
History & Provenance
The engraving is catalogued among a series of works signed only with the monogram AD, a notname used for an unidentified printmaker active in the Low Countries around the turn of the 17th century. Surviving copies are held in several European museum collections, indicating a modest circulation among collectors of prints during the early modern era.
Artist & collection
