Portrait of Adrian Beverland Drawing a Statue of Callipygian Venus

Satirical printmaking began in Britain around the time this mezzotint was made and the engraver, Beckett, was one of the first native-born masters of the medium. This image mocks a Dutch jurist and scholar, Adrian Beverland whose licentious reputation is indicated by showing him sketching the Callipygian Venus surrounded by phallic obelisks. Beverland's controversial book on original sin, “De Peccato originali” (1678), had resulted in his expulsion from the University of Leiden and brief imprisonment. After moving to Utrecht, he received warnings for licentious behavior, then left for England in 1679, as secretary to the scholar Isaac Vossius. When this print was made, Beverland had joined the household of John Vaughan, 3rd Earl of Carbery.

Credit: Purchase, PECO Foundation Gift, 2016