Artist: Hans Holbein the Younger (Germany, 1497/8 - 1543) is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire, and Reformation propaganda, and he made a significant contribution to the history of book design. Holbein made ink drawings to margins of the personal copy of 1515/16
edition of 'The Praise of Folly' by Desiderius Erasmus, after.
Engraver: attributed to Johann Gottlieb Friedrich Unger (Germany, 1755-1804), wood-engraver. He published works by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, August and Friedrich Schlegel etc. There are identical engravings in our collection (i.e. WOP-734/WB-3) from the same edition signed by Unger.
Title: "Folly" Concludes her Lecture. The illustration from 'The Praise of Folly' by Desiderius Erasmus.
Dimensions: Sheet 2 1/2" x 5".
Publisher: possibly, Johann Gottlieb Friedrich Unger (Germany, 1755-1804).
Date: Late XVIII C.
Materials and Techniques: woodcut on paper, pasted to the support.
Provenance: Presumably from Collection AU, due to the backing sheet being identical to the ones typically used for stamped sheets from the same collection (e.g. WOP-736/WB-3).
- The Estate of George "Yorgo" Demetrakopoulos; professor, assistant director of the Medieval Institute, and assistant to the dean at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, from 1965-2000.
Condition: Laid down. The signs of aging are appropriate for the time. A detailed condition report is available on demand.
Art Movements, Periods & Schools: German School XVI C. German School XVIII C.
Note: This entry incorporates text from Wikipedia and the catalog entry of a similar item from the British Museum collection.