DAVID TENIERS THE YOUNGER, AFTER ANDREA SCHIAVONE | Scipio Africanus

After the original painting by Schiavone now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. 1558). This little copper was produced as part of Teniers' Theatrum Pictorum, the first catalogue of a picture collection ever to be illustrated and printed, which Teniers produced with a view to acquaint the educated public with works of art from the princely collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1646–56. With one exception, Teniers painted small copies of the 243 original paintings selected for the catalogue, which served as modelli for the engravings of the same dimensions.