Portret van Floris I, graaf van Holland - Cornelis Visscher (II)

A detailed seventeenth-century engraving by Cornelis Visscher (II) depicting Floris I, Count of Holland, in profile wearing historical armour.

This engraving by Cornelis Visscher (II) depicts Floris I, Count of Holland, presented in a profile view. The subject wears a metal helmet and gorget, reflecting the martial status of a medieval ruler. Visscher employs precise hatching and cross-hatching techniques to define the metallic sheen of the armour and the texture of the plume attached to the helmet. The portrait is contained within an oval frame, which is set against a rectangular architectural border featuring decorative acanthus leaf motifs in the corners.

Below the portrait, a cartouche contains Latin text detailing the lineage and historical context of Floris I. A coat of arms featuring a lion is positioned centrally at the base, flanked by additional Latin inscriptions. The composition follows the conventions of seventeenth-century Dutch printmaking, where historical figures were often reconstructed through imaginative portraiture to accompany genealogical or historical texts. Visscher, a skilled draughtsman and engraver, demonstrates a high degree of control over the burin, creating clear tonal transitions that give the figure a sense of volume despite the two-dimensional nature of the medium.

This work belongs to a series of portraits of the Counts of Holland, a project that allowed Visscher to demonstrate his technical proficiency in portraiture and heraldic detail. The clarity of the line work and the balanced arrangement of the text and image demonstrate the formal rigour typical of the period. The print serves as a record of how historical identity was visualised during the Dutch Golden Age, blending classical portrait traditions with the specific requirements of historical documentation.