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Wenceslaus Hollar
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Images
“Long View” of London from Southwark dress: English woman's simple dress, 17th century Fernández de Córdoba, Gonzalo Hackney carriage, detail of an engraving by W. Hollar, 1646; in the British Museum Dugdale, detail of an engraving by Wenzel Hollar, frontispiece to the first edition of Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire, 1656 William Oughtred, watercolour by George Perfect Harding after an engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1644; in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Iliad
Quick Facts
Bohemian:
Vaclav Hollar
Wenceslaus also given as:
Wenzel
Born:
July 23, 1607, Prague
Died:
March 25, 1677, London (aged 69)
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“Long View” of London from Southwark
“Long View” of London from Southwark Detail from “Long View” of London from Southwark, engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1647.

Wenceslaus Hollar

Bohemian etcher
Also known as: Vaclav Hollar, Wenzel Hollar
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Britannica Editors
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History

Wenceslaus Hollar (born July 23, 1607, Prague—died March 25, 1677, London) was a Bohemian etcher whose works are a rich source of information about the 17th century.

Hollar went to Frankfurt in 1627 where he studied under the engraver and publisher Matthäus Merian, later moving to Strasbourg, and then to Cologne in 1633. There he attracted the attention of the collector Thomas, earl of Arundel, with whom he was associated for most of his life. Hollar settled in England in 1637, but moved to Antwerp in about 1644, and returned to London in 1652.

He was a master etcher, and his work is still much appreciated by connoisseurs. He illustrated a number of books and produced the celebrated Views of London after the Great Fire of 1666. Some 3,000 plates are credited to him. He died in extreme poverty.

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