Three Elegant Vessels on a White Background
ca. 1525
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 1/4 x 5 9/16 in. (21 x 14.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1924
Accession Number
24.82.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
Albrecht Altdorfer’s *Three Elegant Vessels on a White Background*, created around 1525, showcases the German Renaissance artist’s mastery of etching at a time when the medium was still relatively new. Altdorfer, a leading figure of the Danube School, used the technique’s fine, fluid lines to render the ornate contours and reflective surfaces of three goblets or chalices. The stark white background isolates the forms, allowing viewers to appreciate their sculptural elegance without distraction. Etching offered artists like Altdorfer greater freedom than engraving, enabling spontaneous, expres...
About the Artist
Albrecht Altdorfer · 1475–1538
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538) was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman who stands as one of the founders of landscape painting as an independent genre. Born in Regensburg or nearby Altdorf, he learned art from his father Ulrich, a painter and miniaturist. Altdorfer spent most of his life in Regensburg, becoming a citizen in 1505 and later serving as the city's official architect and a m...