Renaissance prints at the National Gallery of Art

Daniel Hopfer, Hieronymus Hopfer, Emperor Charles V, 1520 (1521?), etching (iron) with open biting and unique contemporary hand-coloring in green, red, yellow, pink and brown, Purchased as the Gift of Ladislaus and Beatrix von Hoffmann, National Gallery of Art. Charles excommunicated Martin Luther (below) for his radical teachings. 

Albrecht Dürer, Saint Jerome Penitent in the Wilderness, c. 1496, engraving on laid paper, Joan and David Maxwell Fund, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund and The Ahmanson Foundation, National Gallery of Art

If you missed the exhibition of Renaissance prints at the National Gallery of Art, here's a look at a few of them which held the most fascination for me.

The show celebrated NGA's recent acquisition of works by printmakers from Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands who drew religious and allegorical scenes, Martin Luther, Emperors Maximilian I and Charles V, and more.

I love allegory and its hidden messages which we don't see enough today.

This fellow who looks like he's wearing a chef's cap is Martin Luther, 1523, who, in the drawing, wears a monk's cowl and a theology professor's cap. The artist has framed his head with a halo. The Latin translates: Luther's figure will decay, his Christian spirit will never die. The label copy says the artist was Daniel Hopfer after Lucas Cranach the Elder, From the 

Ruth and Jacob Kainen Memorial Acquisition Fund, National Gallery of Art

 
Lucas van Doetechum, Johannes van Doetechum the Elder, Hans Vredeman de Vries, Hieronymus Cock, Perspective View of a Street, 1560, etching with engraving on laid paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, National Gallery of Art. Since the four artists identified with Perspective are all Netherlandish, one suspects the street is Netherlandish, too, although its location is not listed. 

Jan Sadeler I, Joos van Winghe, A Pleasure House, 1588, engraving on laid paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, National Gallery of Art.

Debauchery galore! See the woman on the right accepting money while she looks the other way at the man who's involved with another woman while simultaneously attempting to lure the first woman.  Harvey Weinstein in the 16th century!  Even the statue in the center contributes to the melee.  It's always the woman's fault.  The Latin inscription at the bottom reads: Wine and women will cause the wise to apostatize and he who joins in formication will be unrighteousness. My words! The devil enters at left to lead them to Hell's hinterland.  You better watch out; you better not cry.

Detail of A Pleasure House

Detail of A Pleasure House

Philip Galle after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, c. 1560-1563, Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art. The label copy said we'd better prepare for Judgment Day. On the left five virgins ignore the enticements of the musician above to work on their handicraft and keep their lamps lit while awaiting the groom (Jesus Christ). The women on the right are sinful creatures who've given up their lamps to enjoy the bagpiper's music and dance. The Latin inscription at the bottom reads something like: We extinguish our lamps with your oil and it is not enough for us and you which means...? Keep the lamps lit (?)! Fascinating, whatever the meaning and intention. Something for the preachers to talk about on Sunday.

Hans Lützelburger, Master NH, Battle of Naked Men and Peasants, 1522, woodcut on laid paper, Ruth and Jacob Kainen Memorial Acquisition Fund, National Gallery of Art.  Lützelburger had been a blockcutter in Augsburg on several projects for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and after the emperor died in 1519, Lützelburger made this sheet as an advertisement of his abilities as an artist of the human form. Note the amputated limbs at the bottom. While fierce battle ensues, see the calm discussion on the right. 

Detail of Battle of Naked Men and Peasants

The drawings depict national military prowess and moral messages, demonstrating popular themes and the leaders Northern European Renaissance artists of the 15th and 16th century drew for growing audiences.

The prints were relatively inexpensive and easy to transport for more to see and to buy.

In Pleasure House, alcohol loosens societal and personal constraints to allow excuses for the search for carnal pleasures! It's interesting to delve into them and find what you may.

The NGA's Brooks Rich, associate curator of old master prints, curated.

More examples of the works may be found at the link above. For personal viewing, you may enter titles and/or the artist's name at NGA's website to find their current locations at the Gallery.


What was: The Renaissance in the North: New Prints and Perspectives


When: The National Gallery hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily.

Where: National Gallery of Art, 6th and Constitution, Washington

How much: Admission is always free at the National Gallery of Art.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: (202) 737-4215

Accessibility information: (202) 842-6905

patricialesli@gmail.com