Gevangene en cipier
Medium
etching
Dimensions
65; 111
About this artwork
collector's mark: Lugt 2228
Art Historical Context
Daniel Nikolaus Chodowie, a prolific Polish-German artist active in Berlin during the Enlightenment, created *Gevangene en cipier* ("Prisoner and Jailer in 1779. This intimate etching, measuring just 111 mm high by 65 mm wide, exemplifies Chodowiecki's mastery of small-scalemaking. Renowned for over 2,000 etchings and engravings, he specialized in vivid genre scenes from everyday 18th-century life, infused with moral and social commentary that resonated with a growing middle-class audience. The title suggests a poignant encounter between captivity and authority, a theme common in Chodowiecki'...
About the Artist
Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki · 1726–1801
Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726–1801) was a German painter and printmaker of Polish-Huguenot descent who became the most celebrated graphic artist in 18th-century Germany. Born in Danzig (now Gdańsk), he created approximately 2,000 etchings that serve as an invaluable visual record of German bourgeois life during the Enlightenment. Largely self-taught, Chodowiecki moved to Berlin in 1743 and ach...