Couple Seated on a Bed

Art Historical Context

Step into the cozy domesticity of *Couple Seated on a Bed*, a captivating engraving by Israhel van Meckenem, created around 1495–1503. This German artist, active during the late Gothic to early Northern Renaissance period, was a master printmaker whose intricate works bridged medieval traditions with emerging Renaissance naturalism. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection (Department CG-E), the print exemplifies the era's fascination with everyday life, capturing a tender moment between two figures perched on a simple bed. Meckenem's engraving technique shines here, with ...

About the Artist

Israhel van Meckenem · 1435–1503

Israhel van Meckenem (c. 1445–1503), also known as Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, was a pioneering German engraver and goldsmith based in Bocholt, near the Dutch border, renowned as the most prolific printmaker of the fifteenth century. Born into a family possibly of Dutch origin, he was the son of Israhel van Meckenem the Elder, a goldsmith who settled in Bocholt in 1457. He trained initially ...