Michiels after Dyckmans The Blind man {1868} NGV [PR]

Michiels, Jan Baptist (1821-90; Belgian) after Dyckmans, Joseph (1811-88; Belgian)
The Blind man (L’Aveugle)
Engraving, 32.5 x 25.5 cm (image)
Presented by the Belgian Government 1868
National Gallery of Victoria (p.179.8-1)

The inscriptions indicate the French title, and the names of the painter and print-maker.

Dyckmans painted domestic images indebted to Dou and other 17^th-century Dutch genre painters. The source painting for this print, also known as Blind Beggar (Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp. 1852), was particularly popular, and he made several variants, including one in the London National Gallery. He was a native of Antwerp, as was Michiels, who produced reproductive prints, mainly of portraits.

Refs. 

Not listed in NGV 1894 or 1905 

Listed in the NGV catalogue as by an unknown engraver (not reproduced); author’s ID photo reproduced here (2019)

For Dyckmans, see Bénézit 5, pp.13-15; AKL 31 (2002), p.392; and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_Laurentius_Dyckmans (with links to reproductions of the paintings in Antwerp and London). For Michiels, see e.g. http://anet.be/submit.phtml?UDses=89748146%3A693543&UDstate=1&UDmode=&UDaccess=&UDrou=%25Start:bopwexe&UDopac=isaarua&UDextra=au::12829