Lot 82: PRINCE RUPERT, COUNT PALATINE (AFTER RIBERA)

Head of an Executioner.

Mezzotint, 1658. 123x161 mm; 5x6 1/2 inches. Trimmed on or just inside the plate mark. A good, dark and evenly printed impression of this extremely scarce, early print.

Prince Rupert (1619-1682), also known as Rupert of the Rhine, and Ludwig von Siegen (1609-circa1680) are generally credited with the invention of mezzotint around the middle of the 17th-century. The current print is one of the earliest mezzotints ever made. Hollstein 7.