Evening, plate two from Four Times of Day
c. 1595
Medium
Engraving on cream laid paper (discolored to beige)
Dimensions
Image/plate: 21 × 15 cm (8 5/16 × 5 15/16 in.); Sheet: 35.7 × 27.5 cm (14 1/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
196435
Art Historical Context
Jan Saenredam’s *Evening* forms the second plate in his series *Four Times of Day*, created around 1595. As a leading Dutch engraver of the late Renaissance, Saenredam specialized in translating designs by painters such as Hendrik Goltzius into finely detailed prints. The seriesifies the daily cycle, allowing viewers to reflect on time’s passage through symbolic figures and landscapes rendered with remarkable precision. Executed as an engraving on laid paper, the work exemplifies the reproductive print’s vital role in the period. Engravings could be produced in multiples and circulated widely...
About the Artist
Jan Saenredam · 1565–1607
Jan Pieterszoon Saenredam (c. 1565–1607) emerged from humble beginnings in the Dutch village of Assendelft, where he was orphaned young and raised by his uncle, the local bailiff Pieter de Jongh. Initially destined for basket weaving or farm work, Saenredam's precocious talent for embellishing texts with intricate designs caught attention, leading to an apprenticeship in cartography. By 1589, at a...