Study law or become an artist? This question, which is still very topical today, had to be asked as early as the 17th century by the young Wenceslas Hollar, known as Wenceslaus Hollar in English and Václav Hollar in Czech. Fortunately for posterity, Hollar chose the artistic side and created countless drawings and copperplate engravings that still have great artistic and historical value today. Born in Prague in 1607, Hollar was apprenticed to the famous engraver Matthäus Merian in Frankfurt am Main in 1627, where he learnt, above all, his later highly regarded methodology of the topography of cities. During his training and stay in the Holy Roman Empire he met the Englishman Lord Thomas Howard, one of the most important art collectors of his time, and was significantly influenced by him. In 1637 Hollar followed his patron Howard back to England, where he spent the rest of his life.
During his training in Frankfurt and later in England, Hollar began to accept various commissions, including views and topographies of places in Germany, Bohemia, England, the Netherlands, Switzerland and present-day Morocco, as well as copperplate engravings of everyday life at the time, seascapes, depictions of nature and portraits of saints and well-known people. With his attention to detail, his experimentation with colour prints and his diligence, Hollar gradually made a name for himself and soon worked for the British royal court under King Charles I. Numerous books with illustrations followed, including classic editions of Homer or Vergil. After the great fire of London in 1666, in which the city centre of London was almost completely burnt out and destroyed, Hollar produced very detailed maps of London including its destroyed districts. These works as also Hollar's previous topographies of old London belong today to the most important sources about London in the Middle Ages. Because of his works about London, Hollar was sent on an expedition to Tangier and today's Morocco by King Charles II in 1668, whose illustrations and maps are also very important today.
The life of the artist was marked by many strokes of fate, such as the impoverishment of his family during the Thirty Years' War, the English Civil War and the temporary captivity of Hollar, the death of his son James by the Great Plague in London or the Great Fire of London. Hollar himself also lived in poverty for most of his life, more or less despite his talent and diligence, as he had little sense of negotiation and payment and often sold his works below value. Nevertheless, his oeuvre comprises approximately 400 drawings, more than 3000 etchings and more than 2700 printing plates, and his estate is one of the most important sources of early and middle 17th century Europe, due to his attention to detail and the distinctive documentation of numerous historical events. Wenzel Hollar died in London in 1677 in great poverty.
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375729).jpg "Shell, Hippopus Hippopus by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Town and Castle of Deal, Kent by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Dutch Warships by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of London After the Great Fire of 1666 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "A Young Man Caressing an Old Woman by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim Paracelsus, Swiss Alchemist and Physician by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Lion and Tulip by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a Man with Protruding Chin and Snub Nose Looking Upwards in Profile to Left by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Bust of a Man with Hooked Nose, Prominent Upper Lip, Open Mouth and Short Curly Hair by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Ruins and a barred gate on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, 1673 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Grotesque Old Man with Flattened Nose in Profile to Left by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_execution_of_English_politician_Thomas_Went_-_(MeisterDrucke-971900).jpg "First English Revolution (1641-1649): execution of English politician Thomas Wentworth de Strafford (1593-1641) on 12/05/1641 at Tower Hill in London. Engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar (17th century) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Dutch East Indiaman by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Ornate Goblet, 1642 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-12409).jpg "Shells (Turritella terebra and T. duplicata L.) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Royal Society, frontispiece to Thomas Sprat, The History of the Royal Society of London by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Mulier Augustana by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "A View of St James")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1412051).jpg "Schelp, Charonia Tritonis (Schelpen Series Title) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1282098).jpg "Pink-Mouth Murex (phyllonotus erythrostomus) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of Civil War England and a View of Prague, 1632 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "To Düren by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_en_turritella_duplicata_(B)Schelpen_(series_titl_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375675).jpg "Shells, Turritella Terebra (A) and Turritella Duplicata (B) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "A View from St. Mary")
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.jpg "Head of a bald, sinewy man looking downwards, 1648 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of Oxford by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Tower, London by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a bald man in profile to left, 1644-52 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Strasbourg: The Toll House by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of the City of Florence by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Empress (from the Dance of Death) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Woman with Black Headscarf and Fur Stole by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1361379).jpg "Shell, Tonna Galea by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Seasons: Spring by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Allegory of the Peace of Westphalia, 1648 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Waggoner (from the Dance of Death) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "St. George")
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.jpg "Ansbach and Coburg, View a of two views a&b by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_(detail)_-_(MeisterDrucke-227379).jpg "View of London, published 1647 (detail) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1362892).jpg "Four Wading Birds by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Title Page, Diversae Effigies by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Five Butterflies by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Coronation Procession of Charles II Through London, 1662 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Gentlemen taking the")
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.jpg "William Oughtred, 1644 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of England and Wales by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Aeneas Lands in Thrace. State 2 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Six Insects, a Caterpillar, and a Snail by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1370571).jpg "Four Wading Birds (Various Birds) by Anonymous")
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.jpg "Anna Maria, Queen of Spain by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Princess Mary, Daughter of Henry VIII, 1647 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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 State 1 - (MeisterDrucke-651473).jpg "The Stone Bridge (Elsheimer) (detail) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Dead Stag by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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 State 2 - (MeisterDrucke-607548).jpg "English Royal Arms (1660 – 1689, State 2) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "View of the Tomb of Avaline, Countess of Lancaster (Wife of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster) in Westminster Abbey by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Tomb of Henry VII by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "January by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Sectioned Skull in Profile to Left with the Left Side of the Cranium Removed by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Albury, 1645 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Illustration to Thomas Killigrew")
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.jpg "Woman Playing at a Keyboard, 1635 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Jesus and St. John Embracing, with Cherubs by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Strasbourg Cathedral, 1645 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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Verschillende_vogels_(series_t_-_(MeisterDrucke-1371621).jpg "Two Swans (Various Birds series) by Peter van Liesebetten")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375830).jpg "Shell, Conus Imperialis by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "London Citizen")
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.jpg "London, Before the Fire in 1666 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Arms of Knights of the Garter by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Shell Murex brandaris by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Old Woman, from the Dance of Death, 1651 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Lady with Ribbons on Curls by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Siege of Basing House by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Nun by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Heads of a Bald Man and a Woman with a Turban (Varie figurae et probae series) (Caricatures, Heads and Deformations after Leonardo da Vinci series) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of an old man with a pronounced chin, short cropped hair and gaping mouth showing by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a Child, after Sadeler by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Zurich Woman in Wedding Dress by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Thomas, Earl of Arundel. State 1 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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Muscarum_Scarabeorum_(series_ti_-_(MeisterDrucke-1362229).jpg "Butterflies, Beetles, and a Moth (Insects) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Six Men and Women Beggars by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1362202).jpg "Shell, Cypraea Tigris by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Bishop, 1651 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Whole-Length Lady, after Anthony van Dyck, 1625-77 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Knight and Death, from The Dance of Death by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Titlepage and Frontispiece to")
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.jpg "The Miser, from the Dance of Death, 1651 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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Verschillende_vog_-_(MeisterDrucke-1371532).jpg "Pigeons at a Dovecote (series title: Diversarum avium species, Various Birds) by Peter van Liesebetten")
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.jpg "Shells: Mitra papalis L by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Adoration of the Kings, after Augustin Braun by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Old St Paul")
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.jpg "Altheia, Countess of Arundel. State 4 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Design for a scabbard, from a drawing by Albrecht Durer by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Young Woman with a Scarf on Her Head, after Bonsignori by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Six Hounds by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375736).jpg "Shell, Harpa Major by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Seasons: Autumn by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Interior of St Paul")
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.jpg "The Church by the Water by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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