Sir William Butts
Medium
Etching, first state of three NH)
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 3/16 × 3 5/8 in. (13.2 × 9.2 cm) cut on and fractionally within the platemark
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.2104
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate etching, titled *Sir William Butts* dated 1649, is a first-state impression by the masterful Bohemian printmaker Wenceslaus Hol, created after a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger.bein, the renowned Tudor court painter, likely depicted Sir William Butts (c. 1543), Henry VIII's personal physician, capturing the sitter's dignified poise and scholarly attire. Hollar's reproduction pays homage to this Renaissance original, with contributions noted from Adam Alexius Bierling, possibly in publishing or collaboration. Measuring just 5 3/16 × 3 5/8 inches, the sheet is cut close to the...
About the Artist
Wenceslaus Hollar|Sir William Butts|Adam Alexius Bierling|Hans Holbein the Younger · 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...