Brother Joseph in the Alps
Medium
Etching; third state
Dimensions
plate: 5 3/16 x 3 7/8 in. sheet: 6 1/8 x 4 11/16 in.
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.21.200
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Brother Joseph in the Alps is a delicate etching by the German artist Johann Christoph Erhard, created around 1820 and preserved in its third state—a refined version showing the artist's iterative refinements to line work and shading. Measuring just 5 3/16 x 3 7/8 inches on the, this intimate print captures a serene alpine scene featuring human figures, birds, trees, and a prominent cross, evoking the majestic yet spiritual solitude of the mountains. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department as part of The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, it exemplifies early 19t...
About the Artist
Johann Christoph Erhard|Lori · 1795–1822
Johann Christoph Erhard (1795–1822) was a German painter and etcher of the Romantic era whose sensitive landscape studies and skillful prints earned him a growing reputation before his tragically early death at twenty-six. Born in Nuremberg, he studied at the Nuremberg Academy and later in Munich, where he was influenced by the Romantic landscape tradition and the revival of interest in the art of...