Begerige oude vrouw

About this artwork

Prent afkomstig uit: Erasmus, Desiderius. Morias enkomion (...). Bazel: Johann Rudolf Genath, 1676. De prenten hierin zijn naar tekeningen die Hans en Ambrosius Holbein maakten voor de theoloog Oswald Myconius in diens uitgave van de Moriae encomium (Lof der Zotheid) van 1516.

Art Historical Context

This small etching by Caspar Merian, titled *Begerige oude vrouw* (Gre Old Woman), was created 1676 as illustration for a Dutch edition Desiderius Erasmus celebrated satirical text *Moriae Encomium* (In Praise of Folly). Measuring just 80 by 57 millimeters, the captures the sharp social commentary of Erasmus’s 1511 work a compact, expressive image of an elderly woman embodying greed—one of the many human follies the author lampooned. The composition is based on drawings originally made by Hans and Ambrosius Holbein around 1516 for theologian Oswald Myconius. Merian translated these earlier designs into etching, a technique well-suited for fine detail and reproduction in printed books. Published in Basel by Johann Rudolf Genath, the volume kept the witty spirit of the Renaissance alive for seventeenth-century readers. Though modest in size, the print reflects the enduring cultural impact of Erasmus’s critique of vanity, corruption, and excess. Its intimate scale invites close viewing, rewarding museum visitors with a glimpse of how art and literature collaborated to expose timeless human foibles.