Description: The MilkmaidEngraving by Lucas van Leyden1510 This is one of Lucas van Leyden's most famous prints and one the earliest depictions of peasant life. A faint impression, trimmed to platemark and mounted to a slightly larger backing sheet. A small brown spot at center, but good condition. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website describes this print as follows: "In a print that has been described as the earliest Dutch image of a milkmaid, a buxom lass and a strapping lad seem keenly aware of each other. The cowherd's (and the viewer's) focus on the farmgirl would have brought to mind the slang word melken (to milk), meaning to attract or lure. The term's origin is more or less explained in an anonymous Dutch book of 1624, Nova poemata (subtitled "New Low German poems and riddles"), in which a woman in the act of milking a cow ("A sinewy thing she has seized with joy," and so on) is compared with grabbing a man's . . . attention." Impressions of this uncommon print in comparable state are held in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. It rarely comes up at auction: similarly faint impressions sold for $3,220 in November 2002 at Swann Auctions and for GBP 4,370 in July 1998 at Christies. Plate: 4 3/4 x 6 1/4 inches
Price: 3500 USD
Location: South Hadley, Massachusetts
End Time: 2024-11-20T18:23:52.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
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Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Artist: Lucas van Leyden
Type: Print
Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
Production Technique: Copper Engraving
Time Period Produced: Pre-1700
