Five hunting horns
Medium
Etching; only state
Dimensions
Plate: 5 11/16 × 7 15/16 in. (14.4 × 20.2 cm) Sheet: 5 11/16 × 7 15/16 in. (14.4 × 20.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.1560
Tags
Art Historical Context
Wenceslaus Hollar's *Five Hunting Horns* (1647) is a exquisite etching that captures the gleaming curves and intricate details of these coiled brass instruments, hallmarks of 17th-century European hunting. Created during Hollar's exile in Antwerp amid the English Civil War, this print exemplifies the Bohemian-born artist's mastery of etching—a technique he elevated through fine, precise lines etched directly into copper plates with acid. As the only state of this work, it remains a rare gem, untouched by later revisions, preserving Hollar's original vision in its compact 5 11/16 × 7 15/16 in. ...
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...