Portrait Engraving Of Pascal Paoli By Reinier Vinkeles 1769

Copper engraving by Reinier Vinkeles (1741-1816) depicting the Corsican General Pascal Paoli (1725-1807) in a three-quarter bust. Caption written in Dutch; the portrait of General Paoli is surmounted by the coat of arms of Corsica and a braided garland of victories. The engraving is signed lower left: "Rein. Vinkeles, delin et sculpt, 1769, Amsterdam" Very beautiful engraving perfectly preserved. Reinier Vinkeles, born in Amsterdam on June 19, 1741 and died in the same city on June 10, 1816, is a Dutch draftsman and engraver. In 1770, Vinkeles left for Paris, where he studied with Jacques-Philippe Le Bas and met the Dutch artists Hermanus Numan (nl) and Izaak de Wit. A year later, Vinkeles returned permanently to Amsterdam and began producing numerous theatrical and literary illustrations, historical prints, topographical scenes, portrait engravings, reproductions of paintings, etc. In the same year, he was invited by the Russian Empress Catherine II to become director of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, but he declined. His style, resolutely turned towards the Baroque in its beginnings, would return to a classical orientation in his mature productions.