id: 168515 accession number: 2010.262 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.262 updated: 2023-05-19 11:03:07.296000 The Lovers (after the Housebook Master), c. 1490. Wenzel von Olmütz (Bohemian). Engraving; sheet: 16.9 x 11.3 cm (6 5/8 x 4 7/16 in.); image: 16.7 x 10.9 cm (6 9/16 x 4 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2010.262 title: The Lovers (after the Housebook Master) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1490 creation date earliest: 1475 creation date latest: 1485 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: Germany, 15th century technique: engraving department: Prints collection: PR - Engraving type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Bartsch, vol. VI, pp. 336-37, no. 48; Lehrs, pp. 79-80, no. 68; Passavant, vol. 2, p. 134, no. 48 --- CREATORS * Wenzel von Olmütz (Bohemian) - artist --- measurements: Sheet: 16.9 x 11.3 cm (6 5/8 x 4 7/16 in.); Image: 16.7 x 10.9 cm (6 9/16 x 4 5/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: laid paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: Verso: Inscribed in ink in an eighteenth century hand: Copie apres Israel van Mecken par Wohlgemuth ou Widitz. L'original est dan la Collection de S. E. le Comte Gersdorff translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2014-03-09T00:00:00 Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014). title: Imagining the Garden opening date: 2015-10-24T00:00:00 Imagining the Garden. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 24, 2015-March 6, 2016). title: Love Gardens / Forbidden Fruit opening date: 2023-07-02T04:00:00 Love Gardens / Forbidden Fruit. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 2-October 29, 2023). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: The Lovers is related to representations of the garden of love, a popular setting for romance in chivalric literature, and depicts the ideal of courtly love as a noble and inspiring relationship distinguished by faithfulness and mutual devotion. The Housebook Master first executed The Lovers, of which only two mediocre impressions are known. Wenzel’s faithful copy, which preserves the subtle psychology of love and devotion expressed in the original, is also extremely rare; six impressions exist, but only one is as fine as the museum’s. Wenzel produced careful copies of the work of other printmakers as well, such as Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer. In the 1400s, little value was placed on artistic originality, so the imitation of one artist by another carried with no stigma. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.262/2010.262_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.262/2010.262_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.262/2010.262_full.tif