The Ball
1500
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 3/4 × 12 3/8 in. (22.2 × 31.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2020
Accession Number
2020.235
Tags
Art Historical Context
### The Ball by Master MZ Step into the lively world of early 16th-century Germany with *The Ball*, an enchanting engraving by the enigmatic Master MZ, created around 1500. This print captures a raucous village gathering where men and women whirl in dance, musicians play lively tunes, dogs scamper underfoot, and groups huddle over card games. At roughly 8¾ × 12⅜ inches, its intimate scale belies the bustling energy of everyday revelry, offering a rare glimpse into the social customs of the Northern Renaissance. Master MZ, a monogrammist engraver likely from the Nuremberg region, exemplifies ...
About the Artist
Master MZ · 1477–1525
The artist known as Master MZ is one of the most accomplished and enigmatic printmakers of the German Renaissance, active around the turn of the sixteenth century. The designation derives from the monogram MZ with which the artist signed a small but technically extraordinary group of engravings, and despite sustained scholarly inquiry, the individual behind these initials has never been conclusive...