Farmer and Wife with Goose
1490
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
About the artist
Artist
Wenzel von Olmutz
Wenzel von Olmutz (1500–1490) was a Bohemian artist, born in Moravia.
See the richer artist page1490
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Farmer and Wife with Goose is a 1490 ink by Wenzel von Olmutz, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This engraving shows two people standing in a field. The person on the left holds a stick and a small bag, wearing a loose coat and a hat. The person on the right cradles a goose and has a basket slung over their shoulder, dressed in a long, textured robe. Both look like ordinary folks, but their expressions are a little off—almost like they’re joking or hiding something. The lines here are all made by carving into metal, a method called *engraving*. The artist used lots of tiny parallel lines, called *cross-hatching*, to show shadows and texture, especially on their clothes and the goose. Look up technique: engraving to see how artists made prints like this before photography.
Wenzel von Olmutz (1500–1490) was a Bohemian artist, born in Moravia.
See the richer artist page
