Alpheus and Arethusa
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
sheet: 11 5/8 x 9 13/16 in. (29.5 x 25 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.567
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Alpheus and Areth** is a captivating etching by Anthonie, a 17th-century Dutch artist renowned for his intricate landscape prints during the Golden Age. Created on a sheet measuring 11 /8 x 9 /16 inches, this draws from classical mythology, depicting the nymph Areusa fleeing the pursuing river god Alpheus.formed by Artemis into a sacred spring to escape his advances, Arethusa embodies themes of pursuit, transformation, and the mystical union of water and nature—perfectly suited to Waterloo's specialty in wooded, atmospheric scenes filled with nymphs and towering trees. Waterloo's etching te...
About the Artist
Anthonie Waterloo · 1609–1690
Anthonie Waterloo (1609–1690) was a prominent Dutch Golden Age landscape artist, born on May 6 in Lille, then part of the Spanish Netherlands. Little is known of his early life beyond his mother, Magdalena Vaillant, who joined Amsterdam's Walloon Church in 1621, with Waterloo following in 1630; no records exist of formal training, and he was likely self-taught. Registered as a painter in Amsterdam...