View from the North Westminster Church
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
21.4 × 23.4 cm (8 7/16 × 9 1/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
75208
Art Historical Context
Wenceslaus Hollar's *View from the North Westminster* captures a serene panoramic vista of 17th-century London, gazing southward from the vicinity of Westminster Abbey. This undated etching, measuring a modest 21.4 × 23.4 cm, exemplifies Hollar's mastery as a Bohemian-born artist who became one of England's premier topographical printmakers after fleeing the Thirty Years' War in 1636. His intricate depictions of the city's architecture, spires, and daily life offer invaluable glimpses into pre-Great Fire London, preserving scenes now lost to time. Etching, Hollar's favored medium, allowed for...
About the Artist
Wenceslaus Hollar · 1607–1677
Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) was a prolific Bohemian etcher who became one of the most accomplished printmakers of the seventeenth century. Born in Prague, he trained under Matthäus Merian in Frankfurt before entering the service of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, in 1636. Hollar spent most of his career in England, where he produced approximately 2,740 etchings documenting an extraordinary range...