Self-Portrait
c. 1814
Medium
Etching on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Plate: 9.3 × 8.1 cm (3 11/16 × 3 1/4 in.); Sheet: 13.2 × 12.1 cm (5 1/4 × 4 13/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
181354
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of Pieter Christoff Wonder's *Self-Portrait* (c. 1814), a gem from the Art Institute of Chicago Prints and Drawings collection. This small etching, measuring just 9.3 × 8.1 cm on its plate, is rendered on creamy wove paper—a smooth, high-quality support favored in the early 19th for its ability to capture fine details. Wonder, a Dutch artist active during the Napoleonic era's aftermath, turns the lens on himself in this modest yet revealing work. Etching, Wonder's chosen medium, involves coating a metal plate with acid-resistant ground, scratching lines into it, a...