Vlijtigheid

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

**Vlijtigheid (Diligence)** Daniel Nikolaus Chodcki, 1784* *Etching, 61 × 30 mm* Daniel Nikolaus Chodowie, a prolific German engraver and illustrator active in Berlin during the Enlightenment era, created *Vlijtigheid*—Dutch for "Diligence"—in 1784. Renowned for his intricate moralistic scenes and book illustrations, Chodowie often depicted everyday virtues and social commentary in a style blending Rococo elegance with emerging realism. This small etching likely embodies the period's emphasis on personal industry and moral uprightness, themes central to 18th-century European thought as so...

About the Artist

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki · 1726–1801

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726–1801) was a German painter and printmaker of Polish-Huguenot descent who became the most celebrated graphic artist in 18th-century Germany. Born in Danzig (now Gdańsk), he created approximately 2,000 etchings that serve as an invaluable visual record of German bourgeois life during the Enlightenment. Largely self-taught, Chodowiecki moved to Berlin in 1743 and ach...