Town Gate, plate 2 from "Regiunculae et Villae Aliquot Ducatus Brabantiae"
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 3/16 × 6 5/16 in. (10.6 × 16 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.52.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created around 1610 by Claes Jansz. Visscher, *Town Gate* is the second plate in the print series *Regiunculae et Villae Aliquot Ducatus Brabantiae*, which celebrates the modest villages and estates of the Duchy of Brabant. Executed as a delicate etching measuring just over four by six inches, the work exemplifies the Dutch tradition of small-scale landscape prints designed for collectors and travelers. Visscher, sometimes associated with the anonymous “Master of the Small Landscapes,” used the medium’s fine linework to capture an inviting view of a fortified gateway, winding road, and serene ...
About the Artist
Claes Jansz. Visscher|Claes Jansz. Visscher|The Master of the Small Landscapes · 1586–1652
Claes Jansz. Visscher, also known as Nicolas Joannis Visscher II or Joannis Piscator, was a prominent Dutch Golden Age draughtsman, engraver, mapmaker, and publisher born in Amsterdam in 1587 and died there on June 19, 1652. The son of the printmaker and publisher Jan Claesz. Visscher (c. 1550–1612), he learned the art of etching and printing from his father, helping to expand the family trade int...