Wenceslaus Hollar |
Wenceslaus Hollar was a Bohemian artist and etcher. He
was born on July 13, 1607 in Prague.
As a young man he decided to make a living by means of
his art. His first art works were made in 1625/1626. They
were small plates, one of which is a copy of a work from Dürer.
He came to the attention of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel,
in 1636. He started work for him and moved to London. In addition
to this he was also making art pieces for others. When the
Earl of Arundel left the United Kingdom in 1642, he came in
to the service of Charles I of England, then the Duke of York.
During the civil war (1641-1651) Wenceslaus worked in Antwerp
where he made his most famous works. He returned to London
in 1652 and worked together with Faithorne.
Wenceslaus Hollor died in 1677, in extreme poverty. His
last written words were addressed to the bailiff asking not
to take away the bed on which he was dying.
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Many of his collective works are preserved in the British
Museum and in the cabinets of Windsor Castle.
The creation…
Wenceslaus Hollar presented his report on the creation
according to the way the account is written in the Bible,
in Genesis chapter 1 and 2. On every print he pictured what
God created… on the first day… on the second day…
etc. As he did so, he also depicted God’s presence by
the use of the Tetragrammaton.
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Text:
"And God said, let there be
light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that
it was good, And God divided the light from the darknesse.
And God called the light Day, and the darknesse he called
Night, and the Evening and the morning were the first
day"
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Text:
"And God said, let there be
a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide
the waters from the waters. And God made the Firmanent,
and divided the Waters, which were under the firmament
from the Waters which were above the firmament and it
was so. And God called the firmament heaven; and the
Evening and the morning were the second day."
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Text:
"And God said, let the Waters
under the Heaven be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appeare, and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering
together of the waters called he Seas. And God saw that
it was good."
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Text:
"And God said, let there be
Lights in the firmament of the Heaven, to divide the
day from the night, and let them be for signes, and
for Seasons, and for days and yeares. And let them be
for lights in the firmament of the heaven, etc. And
God made two great lights, the greater light to rule
the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, he
made the stars also."
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Text:
"And God said, Let the waters
bring forth abundantly the moving Creature that hath
life, and fowl that may flye above the earth in the
open firmament of heaven. And God Created great Whales
and every living Creature that moveth, which the Waters
brought forth abundantly after their kinde, and every
winged fowl after his kinde; and God saw that it was
good."
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Text:
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth
the living Creature after his kinde, cattel and creeping
thing, and beast of the earth after his kinde; and
it was so. And God said: Let us make man in our image,
after our likenesse; and let them have Dominion over
the fish of the Sea, and over the fowl of the ayr
and over the cattel, and over all the eath, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth."
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Text:
"On the Seaventh day, God ended his works
which hee had made, and hee rested on the Seaventh
day from all his works which hee had made. And God
blessed the Seaventh day & Sancified it because
thatin it had rested from all his works."
Here no Tetragrammaton was written. We have reproduced
the image in order to show the collection in its entirety.
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After showing each of the days, he also produced other
prints about the creation. Here, also, God’s name is
written as the Tetragrammaton, with vowels.
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Text:
"And God said, Let there
be Light and there was Light".
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Text:
"And God said, let there
be Lights in the Firmament of the Heaven."
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Text:
"And God said, Let there
be a Firmament in the midst of the Waters."
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Tekst:
"And God said, Let ye dry
land appear & it was so."
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Text:
"And God said: Let the Waters bring forth
abundantly the moving Creature that have Life. And
Fowl that may fly above the Earth in ye open Firmament
of Heaven".
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Text:
"And God said, Let the Earth bring forth
the living Creature after his kind & cattle after
their kind, and every thing that creeped up on the
Earth after their kind."
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In Latin...
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Text:
Genesis Cap. 12 v 1, 2
"Linquenda tellus & domus"
"Leave your country and your
house”
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The life of Abraham also inspired Hollar. He has written
here the names of Biblical locations that are also pictured.
It is noteworthy that the words of God are written coming
out from the Tetragrammaton.
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Text:
"Canaan is promised to Abraham
- Genesis 12:6"
"Unto thy Seed will I give this land"
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Notice by this and the former
print that the drawing is the same, the text is written
firstly in English and then the second time in Latin.
Text:
"Genesis 12:7"
"You and Yours this land
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Text:
"Abraham and Lot seperate
: Genesis 13:7"
"All ye land which thou seest, to thee will I
give it."
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Text:
"God promises Abraham numerous
offspring - Genesis 15:5"
"Tell the stars if thou be able. So shall thy
seed be."
"Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs."
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Text:
"God reneweth his covenant
with Abraham - Genesis 17:4"
"My covenant is with thee & thou shaal be
a Father of many Nations."
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Here we can see an episode from the life of Jacob, the
grandson of Abraham. We can read the report of his vision
in Genesis 28:12 and 13.
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Text:
"Jacob's Vision of a Ladder
- Genesis 28"
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Finally an image of a kneeling sinner.
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Text:
"Ah ah ah ah my sinnes -
O O O O my Saviour"
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