Ceres Seeking Her Daughter or Ceres and Stillio

Art Historical Context

This etching, created in 1646 by Wenceslaus Hollar after designs linked to Hendrick Goudt and Adam Elsheimer, captures a poignant moment from classical mythology. It illustrates Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, in her desperate search for her daughter Proserpina, a tale drawn from Ovid’s *Metamorphoses*. The scene includes a youthful figure, likely representing Stillio or a companion, emphasizing themes of maternal longing and divine intervention amid a landscape that hints at transformation and loss. Hollar, a prolific Bohemian-born printmaker active in England and Antwerp, specialized in detailed etchings that brought earlier paintings and drawings to wider audiences. Working in a single state, this print demonstrates the precision of seventeenth-century etching techniques, where fine lines convey texture, emotion, and narrative depth without the need for color. Such reproductive prints played a vital role in disseminating mythological stories across Europe during the Baroque period. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Drawings and Prints, the work measures just over 11 by 9 inches, making it an intimate yet powerful example of how graphic art preserved and popularized ancient legends for new generations.

About the Artist

Wenceslaus Hollar|Hendrick Goudt|Adam Elsheimer|Ovid · 1607–1677

Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) was a prolific Bohemian etcher who became one of the most accomplished printmakers of the seventeenth century. Born in Prague, he trained under Matthäus Merian in Frankfurt before entering the service of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, in 1636. Hollar spent most of his career in England, where he produced approximately 2,740 etchings documenting an extraordinary range...