The Falconer and a Noble Lady, Israhel van Meckenem, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Gift of Herschel V. Jones

Israhel van Meckenem: Engraver and Entrepreneur

Saturday, February 14, 2004—Sunday, July 18, 2004
Old Masters Gallery 344
Free Exhibition

Israel van Meckenem was the most prolific fifteenth-century engraver as well as the most notorious copyist of his time. Over 620 prints are now attributed to him, many of them signed IM, IVM, or Israhel v. M. Less than a quarter of his works, however, consists of compositions of his own invention. He copied prints by Master E.S., Schongauer, the Master of the Housebook, Holbein the Elder, and Albrecht Dürer. Most historians of engraving have condemned Meckenem as an undisciplined plagiarizer and copyist. Yet now it is universally recognized that Meckenem is in fact an original artist who was especially sensitive to the secular world of his epoch. He loved to render contemporary costumes and depict people from all walks of life conversing or engaging in common leisure activities.