Dode huzaar
1844
Medium
etching
Dimensions
163; 125
About this artwork
date
Art Historical Context
Adolph Menzel's *Dode Huzaar* (1844) is a striking etching capturing a poignant moment, likely depicting a fallen hussar in intimate detail. Measuring just 125 mm high by 163 mm wide, this small-scale print exemplifies Menzel's mastery of etching—a labor-intensive intaglio technique where acid bites into a metal plate to create fine, expressive lines. As a leading figure in 19th-century German Realism, Menzel used etching to explore everyday heroism and tragedy with unflinching precision, often drawing from historical and military subjects. Created during the mid-1840s, amid Europe's simmerin...
About the Artist
Adolph Menzel
Adolph Menzel (1815–1905) was a German painter, draftsman, and printmaker who became the most celebrated German artist of the nineteenth century and one of the most technically accomplished realists in European art. Born Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), he moved to Berlin as a teenager and was largely self-taught, taking over his father's lithographic business ...