The Organ Player and His Wife

c. 1495/1503

Israhel van Meckenem

Associated Names
Israhel van Meckenem

Artist, German, c. 1445 - 1503

The image displays two individuals, both shown from head to toe. The first person, on the left, is sitting on a bench with a pottery pitcher in their hands, positioned as if pouring. The second person, on the right, is seated at a musical instrument resembling a small organ, playing the keys. Both individuals have distinctive facial features with a slightly elongated profile and are wearing long robes along with hats or head coverings. The person on the left wears a tall, pointed hat, while the person on the right wears a softer, round hat. They are inside a room with intricately designed interior elements, including a patterned floor and detailed woodwork. There is a small dog sitting on the floor between them. In the background, a bed is visible through an open doorway. Various objects, like a book, a jug, and other household items, are placed on shelves behind the individuals.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.161

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Lehrs, Vol. 9, p.397, no. 507, State i/iii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Charles Sessler, Philadelphia); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1931; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1941

  • The First Century of Printmaking 1400-1500, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1941, no. 116.

1946

  • Music in Prints from the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no catalogue.

1953

  • Nuremberg and the German World, 1460-1530: Prints and books from the Kress and Rosenwald Collections, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953, no catalogue.

1956

  • Selected Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, City Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, 1956.

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 241, repro.

1990

  • Eva/Ave: Woman in Renaissance and Baroque Prints, NGA, 1990, no. 116, repro.

1997

  • Love and War: A Manual for Life in the Late Middle Ages, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998-1999.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

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

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 241.

1990

  • Russell 1990, no. 116.

1994

  • Landau, David and Peter Parshall. The Renaissance Print, 1470-1550 New Haven and London, 1994: fig. 41.

Watermarks

flower on a crossed stem (Lehrs 2)

Wikidata ID

Q64958445

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