De kardinaal en de Dood
c. 1680
Medium
etching
Dimensions
75; 55
About this artwork
height 75 mm x width 55 mm
Art Historical Context
Wenceslaus Hollar's *De kardinaal en Dood* (The Cardinal and Death), created around 1680, is a etching measuring just 75 mm high by 55 mm wide. Thisian-born artist, renowned for his meticulous reproductive prints and topographic views, worked extensively in England and Antwerp during the 17th century. Hollar's etching technique—using acid to incise fine lines into a metal plate—allowed for extraordinary detail in such a compact format, making his works highly prized by collectors as affordable yet exquisite art objects. The title evokes a classic memento mori theme, where Death confronts a po...
About the Artist
Wenceslaus Hollar · 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...