Challenging The Status Quo: Wenceslaus Hollar – a migrant artist’s perspective on seventeenth century England

Thursday, 21 February 2019 , 4pm
EDEN 007

The Renaissance and Early Modern Research Group will be holding a works-in-progress seminar, which is open to all staff and students. Our first speaker this term will be Kathrin Wagner, Senior Lecturer in Art History, and she will be discussing her most recent research. 

Czech etcher Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-77) shaped the perception of England and Englishness like very few other foreign artists. His oeuvre is as wide-ranging as it is numerous, producing more than 4,500 works throughout his lifetime. Hollar was not only a prolific portraitist and cartographer; he also depicted land- and cityscapes, costumes, historical scenes, architecture – to name only a few. Art historical research is often concerned with very specific works. It fails, however, to discuss Hollar’s presence within mid-seventeenth century society and how he reflects on various aspects of Englishness. His lifelong role as a dissenting outsider allowed him to address various social, political and historical issues, and how they were affecting everyday life in England around 1650.

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