Cornelis de Wit, Grand Pensionary of Holland

Mezzotints, such as this example, are created from a tonal process in which an image emerges from a black background instead of from lines incised in the printing plate. A tool called a rocker or roulette is used to cover the entire surface of the plate with small burrs which, when inked, print a field of solid black. To obtain gray and white tones, the burrs are selectively scraped so that they hold less ink for areas that print lighter.  From 1672 to 1680, Blooteling was in London, where his popular mezzotint portraiture became known as the "English manner." Poses in English mezzotints exported to America were adapted by such artists as John Singleton Copley (1738-1815).