45 - Sir Anthony Van Dyck,

Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish/British 1599-1641- Portrait of the artist Joos de Momper (c.1564-1635); etching on laid paper, signed 'Ant. van Dyck fecit aqua forti.' (within the plate, lower left), inscribed 'Judocus de Momper Pictor. / montium Antuerpiae.' (within the plate, lower centre), bears initials 'G.W' (pen and ink, to the verso), 24.3 x 15.5 cm. (unframed) Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: This etching is part of van Dyck's Icones Principum Virorum, a print series in which he celebrates important artists, scholars, and statesmen of his time. This portrait of Joos de Momper, also held at the British Museum [1866,1013.1005], was copied and slightly altered by van Dyck's student Lucas Vorsterman the Elder (1595/1596-1674/1675). In both, de Momper is remembered as 'pictor montium Antuerpiae': painter of mountains from Antwerp, alluding to the artist's famous vast and atmospheric alpine and wooded landscapes.