The Ball
1500
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet trimmed within platemark: 22 × 31.6 cm (8 11/16 × 12 1/2 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
15460
Art Historical Context
Step into the early 16th-century world of Northern Renaissance printmaking with *The Ball*, a captivating engraving by the enigmatic Master MZ, created around 1500. This anonymous German artist, identified only by his monogram, was one of the last great practitioners of the late Gothic engraving tradition, bridging medieval intricacy with emerging Renaissance clarity. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings department, the work measures 22 × 31.6 cm on premium ivory laid paper—a high-quality support that enhanced the delicacy of its lines. Engraving, Master MZ's chosen me...
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...