Jesus before Caiaphas
Medium
Etching, only state
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 9/16 × 2 3/8 in. (9 × 6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
17.50.18-225
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate etching, *Jesus before Caiaphas captures a pivotal moment from the New Testament: Christ's trial before the high priestaphas, amid a tense gathering of religious figures, including monks as suggested by the tags. Created by Wenceslaus Hol between 1644 and 1652, it reproduces a design by the Renaissance master Hans Holbein the. Hollar, a masterful Bohemian printmaker, faithfully interpreted Holbein's original in this sole state, preserving the emotional drama of the biblical Passion narrative. Measuring just 3 9/16 × 2 3/8 inches, the work exemplifies the precision of 17th-centur...
About the Artist
Wenceslaus Hollar|Hans Holbein the Younger · 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...