View across a River to a Walled City at Sunset
1540s
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 15.5 × 23.1 cm (6 1/8 × 9 1/8 in.) sheet: 17.8 × 24.3 cm (7 × 9 9/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
2013.71.1
Art Historical Context
**View across a River to Walled City at Sunset by Master CR captures the serene beauty of a 16th-century landscape in an etching from the 1540s. This intimate print, measuring just 15.5 × 23.1 cm on laid paper, invites viewers to gaze across a tranquil river toward a distant walled city bathed in the warm glow of sunset. Master CR, a mysterious Netherlandish artist active in the mid-1500s, was a pioneer in etching, a technique that emerged as a freer alternative to traditional engraving, allowing for softer lines and atmospheric depth. Etching's innovation during the Renaissance enabled artis...