Young Woman Wearing a Feathered Cap
Original title: Young woman wearing a feathered cap
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike many women's portraits of its time, this print draws the eye to a feather-trimmed hat. Wenceslaus Hollar made the portrait in 1647 as an etching with drypoint; it is the third of three states. The dimensions are 13.2 × 9 cm.
Description
Face and upper body fill the frame, with little else to distract. The sitter wears a black hat trimmed with fur and feathers, and her dress has a strikingly patterned collar. The etching stays monochrome in black and white, the light falls evenly, and shadows barely emerge. Lines are dense with detail and emphasize the surfaces of fabric and headwear. At the bottom appear the signature and date: 'Holbein inv. Wollar fec. A.A. Bierling excud. 1647.'
Context
Hollar, a Bohemian printmaker, based this sheet on a model by Hans Holbein the Younger. He made the etching in 1647 while working in Antwerp for the publisher A.A. Bierling. It belongs to a series of costume and portrait studies that record sixteenth-century fashion. Hollar was known for his exact reproductions after older masters.
Impact
Fine linework and even lighting give the print a calm, precise presence. The accuracy of detail lends the portrait an almost documentary quality that invites close looking.
Technique
Hollar worked with etching and drypoint on paper. This technique allows fine, controlled lines, used here for the detailed rendering of fabric and feathers. The third state shows reworkings that deepen the hatching.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)