Bolinka and Marcolfus
late 15th–early 16th century
Medium
Etching; fourth state of four
Dimensions
sheet: 9 5/8 x 8 3/4 in. (24.4 x 22.2 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
51.501.396
Tags
Art Historical Context
This etching of *Bolinka and Marcolfus*, produced in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, captures the inventive spirit of early printmaking in Renaissance Europe. Created by Daniel Hopfer, a pioneering German artist who helped popularize etching on iron plates, and Hans Weiditz the Younger, the work exists in its fourth and final state. Measuring just under ten inches, the intimate sheet highlights the medium’s ability to render fine lines and textures, allowing artists to move beyond the limitations of woodcuts toward more expressive detail. The subject draws from medieval folklor...
About the Artist
Daniel Hopfer|Hans Weiditz the Younger · 1471–1536
Daniel Hopfer (c. 1470–1536), born in Kaufbeuren, was the son of the painter Bartholomäus Hopfer and Anna Sendlerin. He relocated early to Augsburg, becoming a citizen and master painter there in 1493, and trained as an etcher of armor in this thriving center of arms production. By 1505, he owned a house in the city center and served on the guild committee for smiths, which encompassed painters an...