Portrait of Bartolomaeus Spranger with an Allegory of the Death of His Wife, Christina Müller

Aegidius Sadeler belonged to one of the great Netherlandish dynasties of reproductive printmakers. Sadeler went to Prague in about 1597 and worked at the court of Emperor Rudolph II. He was so admired for his portrait engraving that he was called the "Phoenix of Engraving." In this complex combination of portraiture and allegory, he paid homage to a contemporary Mannerist artist, Bartholomaeus Spranger. In deference to his fellow artist, Sadeler included a portrait of Spranger's recently deceased wife, as was the custom in 17th ­century Northern portraits.