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Death and the Devil Surprise Two Women
Hopfer, Daniel - Enlarge image
Death and the Devil Surprise Two Women
- Object:
Print
- Place of origin:
Augsburg (etched)
Nuremberg (?, printed) - Date:
ca. 1520 (etched)
late 17th century (printed) - Artist/Maker:
Hopfer, Daniel (etcher)
Funck, David, born 1642 - died 1705 (printed) - Materials and Techniques:
Etching on paper
- Museum number:
26153
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case GG, shelf 37
The plate from which this image was taken was etched between 1500 and 1510. Daniel Hopfer was possibly the earliest to experiment with etching in Europe, using iron or steel plates. This was a natural development from his usual employment as an armourer - etching developed in the Middle East for applying decoration to armour.
The technique involves coating a metal plate with an acid resistant substance and drawing through it using a needle to expose the metal. Acid is used to eat into the exposed lines. This allows for greater freedom with the lines than in engraving. Etching, for instance, allowed the black tonal area on the devil in this image to be made without using hatching. Later, in 1520, Lucas van Leyden experimented with combining etching with engraving, using copper plates instead of iron because the latter was too hard for engraving. Copper also proved a more satisfactory metal for etching, giving softer results.
In this image two vain and wealthy women are interrupted by Death and the Devil. This kind of subject was very popular and served as a reminder of mortality. The long tradition includes the story of the Three Living and Three Dead, in which three aristocratic men meet their dead selves (or sometimes dead churchmen) whilst out riding, and the Dance of Death, featuring Death in a sequence of dances with his victims (developed further by Holbein in 1538). All of them emphasise the fact that the victims' social status means nothing at the time of death.
