The Organ Player and His Wife
1495/1503
Medium
Engraving on buff laid paper
Dimensions
16.5 × 10.9 cm (6 1/2 × 4 5/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
3810
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Here a couple making music in a comfortable interior is an image of harmony. The wife assists the husband by working the bellows of the portative organ, and her open mouth suggests that he is accompanying her song. This is one of a series of six engravings by Meckenem showing couples engaging in music making, card playing, and other pastimes in domestic settings. The engraver elaborated on the household details with particular care, delineating a curtained bed, a built-in cupboard open to show a...
About the Artist
Israhel van Meckenem, the younger
Israhel van Meckenem the Younger (c. 1440–1503) was a German goldsmith and engraver who became one of the most prolific printmakers of the fifteenth century. Born in Meckenheim near Bonn, he was trained by his father, Israhel van Meckenem the Elder, who was himself a goldsmith and engraver. The younger Israhel may also have worked in the workshop of the Master E.S., whose plates he later reworked ...