PRINCE RUPERT, COUNT PALATINE (after Ribera) Head of an Executioner.
Mezzotint, 1658. 134x163 mm; 5 1/4x6 1/2 inches. With thread margins or trimmed on the plate mark. A superb, 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. This is one of the earliest mezzotints ever made. Hollstein 7.
