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The Bohemian Woman

A work made of engraving on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of engraving on ivory laid paper.

Date:

c. 1656-58

Artist:

Cornelis Visscher
Dutch, c. 1629-1658

About this artwork

Unlike his contemporaries in 17th-century Holland, Cornelis Visscher adopted engraving rather than etching as his main form of artistic production. Viewed as a master of the complex technique, he made works that were praised and collected. The peasants shown in Visscher’s scenes are both rugged and nearly facetious. His Bohemian Woman depicts a mother acting as a balance beam for three animated children—all demanding some form of attention from her. The combination of her exposed breast with suckling infant, approaching hunters, and an oddly placed whimsical backdrop is disconcerting but simultaneously all the more intriguing in its incongruity.

Status

On View, Gallery 213

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Cornelis Visscher

Title

The Bohemian Woman

Place

Holland (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1651–1658

Medium

Engraving on ivory laid paper

Inscriptions

Verso: stamped with the collector's marks of Arkady Alferoff (Bonn, 1811-1872; Lugt 1727); of Joseph Pricken (Cologne, d. 1877; Lugt 2049); of Rudolf Peltzer (Cologne, 1825-1910; Lugt 2231); and an unidentified mark (Lugt 796)

Dimensions

Plate: 37.4 × 31.8 cm (14 3/4 × 12 9/16 in.); Sheet: 38.8 × 32.9 cm (15 5/16 × 13 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Horace S. Oakley

Reference Number

1923.1052

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/9474/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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