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print
Object Type
print
Museum number
1870,0625.660
Description
The Alchemist; alchemist working at stove at left, robed figure reading instructions from manual at r; a fool with bellows and the alchemist's wife with an empty purse in centre; in right background, alchemist and his wife taking their three children to the hospital, identified with inscription over the door; first state with address of Hieronymus Cock; after Pieter Bruegel the Elder. c.1558 Engraving
Producer name
Attributed to:
Philips Galle
After:
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Published by:
Hieronymus Cock
School/style
Netherlandish
Production date
1558
(circa)
Materials
paper
Technique
engraving
Dimensions
Height:
324 millimetres
Width:
442 millimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments
The preparatory drawing is in Berlin dated 1558. Literature: D. Freedberg, ed. The Prints of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, exh. cat., Tokyo, 1989, no. 27 (iconographic explanation of print); Literature: Susan Dackerman et al., 'Prints and the Pursuit of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe', Yale UP, 2011, cat.no.96.
Bibliographic references
New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) / The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450-1700
(40.I)
(Pieter Bruegel the Elder)
Bastelaer 1908 / Les estampes de Peter Bruegel l'ancien
(197.I)
Lebeer 1969 / Catalogue raisonné des estampes de Bruegel l'ancien
(27.I)
Hollstein / Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700
(197.II)
(after Pieter Bruegel the Elder)
Riggs 1977 / Hieronymus Cock, Printmaker and Publisher
(33)
Location
Not on display
Subjects
alchemist/alchemy
reading/writing
Acquisition name
Purchased from:
Antonia Brentano
Purchased through:
F A C Prestel
(sale Frankfurt, 16.v.1870/1049)
Purchased through:
Colnaghi
Previous owner
Previous owner/ex-collection:
Johann Melchior Birckenstock
Acquisition date
1870
Department
Prints and Drawings
Registration number
1870,0625.660