Wenceslaus Hollar (1651)
Self-portrait by Hollar, 1647
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Hollar's copy of Holbein's self-portrait, 1647
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enceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) published his 30 copperplates the first time in 1651.
There's some uncertainty about the number of editions.
The literature has several references to a 1647-edition.
One example is Maßmann(1),
who refers to Francis Douce as a source.
But although Douce(2)
writes at length about these prints, there's no mention of any year.
Similarly, Warthin(3)
doesn't mention any 1647-edition either.
It gets even more confusing when Maßmann
describes this 1647-edition in a footnote:
»1) Vorn Holbein's Bildniss (HH Æ 45. AD 1543) Vera Effigies Johannis Holbeinij Bassileensis […]
ex Collect Arundel 1647«.
It's true that Hollar in 1647 made the copy of Holbein's self-portrait that is shown to the right.
But this portrait is not a part of the dance of death.
Self-portrait by Hollar copied by Francis Barlow
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»Dann S.2. Hollar's Bild (von Barlow) AEtatis 40. 1647«.
This is even stranger.
It is true that
Hollar made a self-portrait in 1647,
but Maßmann refers to a copy made by Barlow (1626? - 1704, image to the left).
It sounds highly improbable that a book published by Hollar the same year that he created the self-portrait
would contain a copy executed by the 21 years old Barlow, instead of the original engraving by the master himself.
Hollar died in 1677 at the age of 70
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It gets even worse as Maßmann tells us the book ends with a picture of Hollar at the age of 76:
»Schluss Hollar's bild "Wencislaus Hollar Obt Lond. 1677. aetat. 76"«.
Hollar did in fact die (Latin: "obit") in 1677 (being 70 years, not 76!),
and there is such
a portrait of Hollar, but this image is from 1745.
And even if Maßmann had an earlier version in mind, a portrait published in 1647
wouldn't state that Hollar died in 1677.
The first certified edition then is from 1651, where the title
of the book was the same as the title Hollar put below his version of
Death's Escutcheon, namely "Mortalium Nobilitas"
(picture below to the left).
The 30 plates were adorned by
3 frames designed by Abraham Diepenbeeck (who was a pupil of Rubens). These 3 frames depict
Democritus and Heraclitus,
Minerva and Hercules and Time and Eternity
(click the links and then the image to see the frames).
The 1651-edition of Mortalium Nobilitas.
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The 1651 edition -- without signatures
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As shown by the picture to the right, the 30 plates and their frames were originally without signatures.
Around 1680 the plates were signed with Hollar's initials — a conjoined WH — and
HB.i. for "Holbein invenit" at the bottom of the engravings.
Douce writes that at the bottom of the frame with Time and Eternity is written
»Ab a Diepenbecke inu. W: Hollar fecit«,
and the same on the frame with Minerva and Hercules, where the year 1651 has also been added.
The third frame, according to Douce, isn't signed.
Douce calls this edition
»the first and most desirable state of the work, the borders having afterwards fallen into the hands of Petau and Van Morle,
two foreign printsellers, whose impressions are very inferior«.
In later editions, the Petau mentioned by Douce has written his name unto the third frame:
»Ab. a Dvpenbecke inu. A Paris, Chez N. Pitau, rue St. Jacques proche les Mathurins, W. Hollar fecit«.
The 1680-edition -- lots of signatures
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Other editions have been further "improved" with the text »Auec priuelege Du roy«.
After 1680, the changing taste of fashion made the plates obsolete
and they disappeared from the public.
A hundred years later there was a renewed interest in things medieval,
and the world was ready for
another round of Hollar.
Hollar and Birckmann
Hollar: Death attacks with an arrow instead of a bone; Death has no shield, but grabs the soldier;
the hourglass has been placed on one of the fallen men.
These are all variations that Hollar has copied from Birckmann.
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he funny part is that most of Hollar's plates are not copies of Holbein, but rather copies of
Arnold Birckmann.
Birckmann's woodcuts often depart radically from Holbein's original cuts.
He likes to add buildings in the background,
and he tries the include Death's hourglass in those pictures, where Holbein has "forgotten" it.
In 20 out of 30 cases, Hollar has preferred Birckmann's variations to Holbein's original cuts
(see the individual pages for details):
the Expulsion from Paradise,
Life after the Fall,
pope,
queen,
abbot,
abbess,
advocate,
preacher,
nun,
physician,
miser,
merchant,
count,
countess,
noblewoman,
peddler (sword)
child,
the escutcheon of Death,
soldier and
gambler.
One may wonder why Hollar has copied Birckmann's copies, rather than going to the source and copy
Holbein's originals. It has been suggested that maybe Hollar couldn't afford a genuine Holbein print,
and therefore had to make do with Birckmann's inferior cuts.
However, this explanation doesn't hold water,
since Hollar in many other cases ignores Birckmann's changes and employs Holbein:
In these 9 pictures, Hollar ignores Birckmann's changes:
Temptation and Fall (Birckmann's copy is very divergent),
the emperor (extra people, the direction of the emperor's glance),
the cardinal (espalier, disappearing money-box),
the empress (tower in horizon),
the duke (round tower with hourglass),
the monk (keeps pillar),
the old woman (tree instead of stalks),
the old man (hourglass and background) and
the peddler (the dog's tail).
So Hollar was perfectly aware of Holbein's originals and had access to them. A much more obvious explanation then
— and one that will probably pain many art connoisseurs —
is that Hollar in many cases has consciously preferred Birckmann's changes.
This wouldn't be a unique case: Eberhard Kieser
normally follows Holbein's originals very closely, but he has also had access to the 8 plates in
Aldegrevers dance of death, and in 7 out of 8 times, he has preferred
Aldegrever's copy to Holbein — just like Hollar in 20 out of 30 cases prefers Birckmann's copies
to Holbein's originals.
Hollar and Holbein
This version of the pope follows Holbein's original woodcut.
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The robber.
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o Hollar's dance of death was copied after Birckmann's editions
instead of Holbein's original woodcuts.
Let me give the floor to Francis Douce:
It is most likely that Hollar, having discovered the error which he had
committed in copying the spurious engravings before-mentioned, and
subsequently procured a set of genuine impressions, resolved to make
another set of etchings from the original work, four only of which he
appears to have executed, his death probably taking place before they
could be completed. These are, 1. The Pope crowning the Emperor, with
"Moriatur sacerdos magnus." 2. The rich man disregarding the beggar, with
"Qui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, amp;c." and the four Latin
lines, "Consulitis, dites, &c." at bottom, as in the original. It is
beautifully and most faithfully copied, with [Holbein inv.
Hollar fecit]. 3. The Ploughman, with "In sudore vultus, &c." 4. The
Robber, with "Domine vim patior."
(Douce: The dance of death exhibited in elegant engravings on wood, 1833, page 129)
Douce, who were no fan of Birckmann's variants, speculated whether
Hollar had made a mistake in copying Birckmann and whether Hollar had later started rectifying this error.
The fact is, as Douce points out, that Hollar made another version of the pope (to the left),
which is a copy of
Holbein's pope in contrast to
Hollar's first pope,
which was a copy after
Birckmann.
In the same way Douce is also right that Hollar has produced three scenes that
were not included in Mortalium Nobilitas, namely the robber (picture to the right),
the senator and
the peasant.
To my knowledge, nobody knows when these four plates were produced
but it seems fair to assume along with Douce that they are later works.
Hollar copied the capitals A-F (see further down on the page).
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Illustration from St. Paul's Cathedral in London, 1658
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Douce continues:
In Dugdale's History of St. Paul's, and also in the Monasticon, there is a
single etching by Hollar of Death leading all ranks of people. It is only
an improved copy of an old wood-cut in Lydgate's works, already mentioned
in p. 52, and which is altogether imaginary, not being taken from any real
series of the Dance.
(Douce: The dance of death exhibited in elegant engravings on wood, 1833, page 129)
This means that Hollar copied
the rough woodcut from
a book about Saint Paul's Cathedral in London from 1554
and made a technically perfect version of this scene (picture to the right).
Furthermore Hollar copied the capitals A-F from
Holbein's dance of death alphabet (picture to the left and further down).
A final thing that bears mention is that
Hollar copied
Holbein's self-portrait (top, right corner of this page).
Hollar was in turn copied by Thomas Neale, David Deuchar
and an unknown English artist.
Read more about the later editions of Hollar from around 1800.
Resources
Hollar
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Hollar 1658
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Hollar 1790
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Hollar 1816
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Hollar 1818
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Hollar
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Dance of Death Alphabet
Hollar made the letters A-F:
Other interpreters of Holbein's dance of death
Hollar was republished around 1800.
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Hollar was copied by David Deuchar.
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Hollar was also copied by Thomas Neale.
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Footnotes:
(1)
(2)
(3)
Hans Ferdinand Maßmann ,
Litteratur der Totentänze, 1840, page 55.
LINK
Francis Douce,
The dance of death exhibited in elegant engravings on wood with a dissertation on the several representations of that subject but more particularly on those ascribed to Macaber and Hans Holbein, 1833, page 125.
See the separate page about Douce.
Aldred Scott Warthin, The Physician of the Dance of Death, 1931, pages 72-73.
Dances of death
Holbein's dance of death
Hollar
