Four butterflies
Medium
Etching; first state of three
Dimensions
Plate: 3 1/8 × 4 9/16 in. (8 × 11.6 cm) Sheet: 3 5/8 × 5 1/16 in. (9.2 × 12.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926
Accession Number
26.72.123
Tags
Art Historical Context
Wenceslaus Hollar's *Four Butterflies* (1646) is a delicate etching capturing the intricate beauty of these ephemeral insects in exquisite detail. Created during Hollar's time in Antwerp—after fleeing England's Civil War—this small plate (just over 3 by 4 inches) exemplifies the Bohemian artist's mastery of printmaking. As a first state of three, it the purest version before later revisions, making it a prized rarity for collectors. Hollar, a prolific Baroque etcher renowned for his precise line work, often turned to natural history subjects like insects, blending scientific observation with ...
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...