Emmerich

Art Historical Context

Wenceslaus Hollar’s delicate etching “Emmerich” captures a tranquil riverside view along the Rhine during the artist’s productive years in the 1640s. Created as the second state of three, the small print (just under two inches high) reveals Hollar’s extraordinary precision in rendering light on water, the gentle curves of boats, and the distant outline of the town. As a Bohemian artist working across Europe, Hollar specialized in topographical views that served both as travel souvenirs and historical records for collectors. Etching was ideally suited to Hollar’s meticulous style, allowing fine lines to suggest rippling reflections and atmospheric depth without the heavier burr of engraving. The presence of river traffic hints at Emmerich’s role as a modest trading hub, even amid the disruptions of the Thirty Years’ War. Today the print resides in the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints, a gift that preserves one of the seventeenth century’s most observant visual chroniclers of European landscapes.

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...