Three Dancing Mummers, Including a Jester

1595/1596

Attributed to Zacharias Dolendo after Jacques de Gheyn II

Associated Names
Zacharias Dolendo

Artist, Dutch, active 1581/1598

Jacques de Gheyn II

Publisher, Dutch, 1565 - 1629

Jacques de Gheyn II

Artist After, Dutch, 1565 - 1629

The image includes three fantastical figures in dramatic poses. They have heavily stylized faces with exaggerated features and wear jester-like attire with bells. The central figure is shirtless with accessories on his hips, while the others wear decorative garments. Bells adorn their footwear. The background is plain with a textured, shadowed surface beneath them.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    New Century Fund

  • Dimensions

    plate: 23.7 x 16.9 cm (9 5/16 x 6 5/8 in.)
    sheet: 39.7 x 27.2 cm (15 5/8 x 10 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2004.21.4

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 163, State only

  • Series Title

    The Masquerades

Associated Artworks

See all 10 artworks
The image shows an ornate frame with a Latin text inside, two figures on either side in profile holding masks away from their faces, a detailed skeleton above the frame holding masks, spheres and swirling shapes above the skeleton, and decorative elements including skeletal hands holding the parchment and a small winged cherubic face below. The scene is intricately designed in an engraving style with a classical and macabre tone.

Title Page

Zacharias Dolendo, Jacques de Gheyn II

1518

The Masquerades

Zacharias Dolendo, Jacques de Gheyn II

1595

The image shows three full-body figures in a classic style. The figure on the left is playing a stringed instrument, and has distinct facial hair, wears a hat with feathers, and has puffy, patterned clothing. The middle figure stands upright, has a covered face with a headdress and veiled mask, and holds a bell and a tassel. The figure on the right wears a mask with an elongated, beak-like feature, textured clothing with striped sleeves, and a wide-brimmed hat. All figures are set against a plain background.

A Couple Addressed by a Lute Player

Zacharias Dolendo, Jacques de Gheyn II

1518

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Château de la Roche-Guyon, France (part of an album)1; (Paul Prouté S.A., Paris); purchased by NGA, 2004.
1 The album was bound in vellum, with "Abraham" on the cover and "Ligeoys" on the back cover. The Château de la Roche-Guyon stamp was on some of the pages, which included a variety of northern mannerist prints by Goltzius, Matham, Saenredam, and others. Compiled by 1610, it was apparently dismantled by Prouté before the sale of some of the prints to the NGA.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberge

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (De Gheyn Family, Jan Piet Filedt Kok and Marjolein Leesberg, authors). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, no. 163, state only.

Inscriptions

lower center in plate: IDGeijn. Inuen. et excu.; lower left in plate: 4

Wikidata ID

Q76360470

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