Belshazzar's Feast
ca. 1598
Medium
Engraving; New Holl.'s second state of three
Dimensions
Sheet: 13 7/8 × 15 9/16 in. (35.3 × 39.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.6341
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Belshazzar's Feast is a captivating engraving by the Dutch artist Jan Muller (also known as Harmen Jansz Muller), created around 1598. This second state of three, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Elisha Whittelsey Collection, measures nearly 14 by 15 inches and exemplifies the intricate printmaking traditions of the late Northern Renaissance. Muller, a skilled engraver active in Haarlem and Antwerp, was renowned for his detailed reproductive prints that brought grand historical and biblical scenes to life for a wide audience. The artwork dramatizes the biblical story from the Book of D...
About the Artist
Jan Muller|Harmen Jansz. Muller · 1571–1628
**Jan Harmensz. Muller (1571–1628)** Born in Amsterdam in 1571, Jan Harmensz. Muller grew up immersed in the world of printmaking, as the son of the prominent engraver, publisher, and book printer Harmen Jansz. Muller. He studied under his father, mastering the engraving trade within the family business, The Gilded Compasses. Around 1589, Muller joined the workshop of Hendrick Goltzius in Haarlem...