Moors, from a set of costume plates of different nations
ca. 1600–40
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 3 1/4 × 4 7/16 in. (8.3 × 11.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1960
Accession Number
60.621.14(2)
Art Historical Context
Johann Wilhelm Baur’s etching *Moors*, created between 1600 and 1640, belongs to a series of costume plates that captured the dress of various nations for European audiences. As a German artist active during the Baroque era, Baur specialized in small-scale prints that combined precise observation with decorative flair. The medium of etching allowed him to render intricate patterns in fabric and headwear with fine, fluid lines, making these images both informative and visually appealing. Such costume studies reflected the growing European fascination with distant cultures during an age of expa...
About the Artist
Johann Wilhelm Baur · 1607–1642
Johann Wilhelm Baur was a German draughtsman, painter, and printmaker who came of age in the early seventeenth century and built his reputation through the production of finely detailed illustrations and miniatures. Though the precise details of his training remain incompletely documented, Baur developed his skills in the tradition of German and Northern European graphic art, showing influences fr...