Exempel und Lehr Jetziger Welt Lauf
1622
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1622
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Exempel und Lehr Jetziger Welt Lauf is a 1622 ink by Andreas Bretschneider III, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This crowded scene shows a chaotic mix of people and animals in a room. A woman in a doorway holds a child while others scramble around her. Some figures are dressed in old-fashioned clothes, others look half-naked or injured. The floor is littered with broken dishes, food, and scattered objects. A man on the right seems to be falling or reaching out. Notice how the artist packed so much drama into a small space—every inch tells a story. The messy details suggest a warning about human behavior. Want to see more like this? Look up etching to learn how artists carve images into metal.
