Major Tellheim laat Minna von Barnhelm de brief van de koning lezen

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowie, a prolific Polish-German artist and master etcher active in Enlightenment-era Berlin, captures a poignant moment from Gotthold Ephraim Lessing acclaimed 1767 comedy *Minna von Barnhelm in this intimate 1769 etching. Titled *Major Tellheim laat Min von Barnhelm de brief van de koning lezen* ("Major Tellheim Lets Minna von Barnhelm the King's Letter"), it depicts the protagonist handing his fiancée a restorative missive from the king, symbolizing redemption and reconciliation after the devastations of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). Lessing's play, a cornerstone of Ge...

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...