Five Butterflies, a Moth and Two Beetles
Medium
Etching; first state of three
Dimensions
Plate: 3 1/8 × 4 5/8 in. (8 × 11.8 cm) Sheet: 3 7/16 × 4 15/16 in. (8.8 × 12.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926
Accession Number
26.72.124
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-17th century, Europe's burgeoning interest in natural history during the Scientific Revolution, Bohemian etcher Wenceslaus Hollar created *Five Butterflies, a Moth Two Beetles* in 1646. in Antwerp after fleeing war-torn England, Hollar captured these delicate insects with extraordinary precision on a modest etching plate measuring just 3 1/8 × 4 5/8 inches. This first-state impression—before later revisions—showcases his mastery of line and texture, rendering wings, antennae, and legs in lifelike detail that rivals contemporary scientific illustrations. Hollar, one of the era's mos...
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...