Illustrations to Proverbs 10: 1-3
ca. 1534
Medium
Etching; second state of three
Dimensions
sheet: 5 3/8 x 13 7/16 in. (13.7 x 34.2 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
51.501.370
Tags
Art Historical Context
Daniel Hopner's *Illustrations to Proverbs : 1-3* (ca. 1534) is a captivating etching from the Northern Renaissance, measuring 5 3/8 x 13 7/16 inches. This second state of three Hopner's innovative mastery of the etching technique, which he pioneered in Germany using iron plates for fluid, expressive lines unattainable in traditional engraving. Produced in Augsburg during the early Reformation era, the print draws from the Book of Proverbs, visualizing verses on wisdom, folly, righteousness, and divine provision through vivid scenes likely featuring food-laden tables, swords symbolizing confli...
About the Artist
Daniel Hopfer · 1471–1536
Daniel Hopfer (c. 1470–1536), born in Kaufbeuren, was the son of the painter Bartholomäus Hopfer and Anna Sendlerin. He relocated early to Augsburg, becoming a citizen and master painter there in 1493, and trained as an etcher of armor in this thriving center of arms production. By 1505, he owned a house in the city center and served on the guild committee for smiths, which encompassed painters an...