Winter Landscape, from Landscapes (Playsante Lantschappen)
c. 1641
Medium
Etching, with engraving, on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 15.3 × 28.2 cm (6 1/16 × 11 1/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
268677
Art Historical Context
Step into a serene winter wonderland with *Winter Landscape*, a captivating etching from Claes Jansz. Visscher II's series *scapes (Playsante Lantschappen, created around 1641. Visscher, a prominent Dutch engraver and publisher during the Golden Age, masterfully captured the tranquil beauty of the Netherlands' frozen seasons. This print, measuring a modest 15.3 × 28.2 cm on ivory laid, exemplifies the era's fascination with everyday rural life—skaters gliding on icy waterways, villagers bundled against the chill, and bare trees dotting snow-draped fields. Printed using a combination of etchin...
About the Artist
Claes Jansz. Visscher, II · 1587–1652
Claes Janszoon Visscher II (1587–1652) was one of the most prolific and commercially astute figures of the Dutch Golden Age print world — a draughtsman, etcher, mapmaker, and publisher whose Amsterdam workshop became one of the largest of its kind in Europe. Born into a family already engaged in the print trade, Visscher learned etching and engraving directly from his father, Claes Jansz. Visscher...