Specimens of Modern Masters
18th century
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 9/16 × 4 15/16 in. (9 × 12.6 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Bella C. Landauer, 1926
Accession Number
26.28.231
Art Historical Context
"Specimens of Modern Masters is a charming 18th-century etching from Britain, created by an anonymous artist and now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Drawings and Prints. Measuring just 3 9/16 × 4 15/16 inches, this petite print exemplifies the ephemera of its era—those fleeting, everyday printed items that captured the spirit of Georgian England. Donated in 1926 by collector Bella C. Landauer, it invites us to glimpse the vibrant print culture of the time. Etching, the medium here, was a revolutionary intaglio technique where artists drew lines into a wax-coated metal plate, allowing ...