Blackwork Print with Two Horizontal Panels and Four Bezels
Medium
blackwork
Dimensions
Plate: 1 9/16 x 2 1/16 in. (3.9 x 5.2 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1956
Accession Number
56.500.116
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant Dutch Golden Age around 1620, engravers like Claes Jansz. Visscher, a leading Amsterdam publisher, and collaborator Hans de Bull produced exquisite ornamental prints such as *Blackwork Print with Two Horizontal Panels Four Bezels*. This plate, measuring just 1 9/16 x 2 1/16 inches, exemplifies blackwork—a meticulous engraving technique using fine lines of black ink to create intricate lace-like patterns without color or shading. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it reflects the era's fascination with decorative motifs for jewelry, embroid...
About the Artist
Claes Jansz. Visscher|Hans de Bull · 1586–1652
Claes Jansz. Visscher, also known as Nicolas Joannis Visscher II or Joannis Piscator, was a prominent Dutch Golden Age draughtsman, engraver, mapmaker, and publisher born in Amsterdam in 1587 and died there on June 19, 1652. The son of the printmaker and publisher Jan Claesz. Visscher (c. 1550–1612), he learned the art of etching and printing from his father, helping to expand the family trade int...