Study law or become an artist? This question, which is still very topical today, had to be asked as early as the 17th century by the young Wenceslas Hollar, known as Wenceslaus Hollar in English and Václav Hollar in Czech. Fortunately for posterity, Hollar chose the artistic side and created countless drawings and copperplate engravings that still have great artistic and historical value today. Born in Prague in 1607, Hollar was apprenticed to the famous engraver Matthäus Merian in Frankfurt am Main in 1627, where he learnt, above all, his later highly regarded methodology of the topography of cities. During his training and stay in the Holy Roman Empire he met the Englishman Lord Thomas Howard, one of the most important art collectors of his time, and was significantly influenced by him. In 1637 Hollar followed his patron Howard back to England, where he spent the rest of his life.
During his training in Frankfurt and later in England, Hollar began to accept various commissions, including views and topographies of places in Germany, Bohemia, England, the Netherlands, Switzerland and present-day Morocco, as well as copperplate engravings of everyday life at the time, seascapes, depictions of nature and portraits of saints and well-known people. With his attention to detail, his experimentation with colour prints and his diligence, Hollar gradually made a name for himself and soon worked for the British royal court under King Charles I. Numerous books with illustrations followed, including classic editions of Homer or Vergil. After the great fire of London in 1666, in which the city centre of London was almost completely burnt out and destroyed, Hollar produced very detailed maps of London including its destroyed districts. These works as also Hollar's previous topographies of old London belong today to the most important sources about London in the Middle Ages. Because of his works about London, Hollar was sent on an expedition to Tangier and today's Morocco by King Charles II in 1668, whose illustrations and maps are also very important today.
The life of the artist was marked by many strokes of fate, such as the impoverishment of his family during the Thirty Years' War, the English Civil War and the temporary captivity of Hollar, the death of his son James by the Great Plague in London or the Great Fire of London. Hollar himself also lived in poverty for most of his life, more or less despite his talent and diligence, as he had little sense of negotiation and payment and often sold his works below value. Nevertheless, his oeuvre comprises approximately 400 drawings, more than 3000 etchings and more than 2700 printing plates, and his estate is one of the most important sources of early and middle 17th century Europe, due to his attention to detail and the distinctive documentation of numerous historical events. Wenzel Hollar died in London in 1677 in great poverty.
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.jpg "Dutch Warships by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Animals and Plants: Leopard with Plants and Insects, 1662 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375729).jpg "Shell, Hippopus Hippopus by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Five Boys and a Satyr, 1646 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Town and Castle of Deal, Kent by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Lion and Tulip by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Great View of Prague by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Hollar-Rostock by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Bust of a Man with Hooked Nose, Prominent Upper Lip, Open Mouth and Short Curly Hair by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_execution_of_English_politician_Thomas_Went_-_(MeisterDrucke-971900).jpg "First English Revolution (1641-1649): execution of English politician Thomas Wentworth de Strafford (1593-1641) on 12/05/1641 at Tower Hill in London. Engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar (17th century) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of London After the Great Fire of 1666 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Kunibert Tower near Cologne by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Two Deformed Heads Facing Inwards by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of Civil War England and a View of Prague, 1632 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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Karikaturen_koppen_en_-_(MeisterDrucke-1405566).jpg "Two Deformed Heads Caricatures, Heads and Deformations after Leonardo da Vinci (series title) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_en_vrouwVarie_figurae_et_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375301).jpg "Deformed Caricature Heads of a Man with Cap (Dante?) and Woman by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "A Young Man Caressing an Old Woman by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Four Grotesque Heads in Profile to Left by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Grotesque Old Man with Flattened Nose in Profile to Left by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Deformed Heads of a Bald Man and Woman with Horns on Their Heads by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-544688).jpg "Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (monument) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Panoramic View of London by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Hollar")
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.jpg "Earl of Stafford Beheaded on Tower Hill; Sir Francis Windebank, Sir John Finch and Lord Digby Flee England by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Merchant")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1363241).jpg "Swan, Hen with Chicks, and Other Birds (Various Birds) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Allegory of the Peace of Westphalia, 1648 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-75344).jpg "The Tower of London, c.1637-41 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Several Habits of English Women, from the Nobility to the Country Women by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Boscobel House and Park, 1651 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Interior of the Nave of St. Paul")
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.jpg "Heads of a Large Bald Man and Grotesque Woman (series title) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a Child by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of England and Wales by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Woman of Augsburg by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Portrait of Albrecht Dürer, at the Age of 26 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375889).jpg "Galley and Other Ships in a Sea Storm (Sea Storms series) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a Child, after Sadeler by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a Toothless Man with Bare, Sinewy Neck in Profile to Left by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_(detail)_-_(MeisterDrucke-227379).jpg "View of London, published 1647 (detail) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Deformed Heads of a Laughing Man and Woman with Headscarf by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Hollar")
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.jpg "Woden, Thor and Friga by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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Muscarum_Scarabeorum_(series_title)_-_(MeisterDrucke-1407913).jpg "Five Butterflies by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Sick Kite and Its Mother by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Swabian or Augsburg Woman by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of Oxford by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Knight and Death, from The Dance of Death by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Byrsa Londinensis vulgo the Royal Exchange Royal Exchange, London, ca. 1647 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a muscular old man in profile to left with flowing hair, 1625-77 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "London, Before the Fire in 1666 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Lying Deer, Facing Right by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Maximilian, Holy Roman Emperor by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Temple courtyard with figures, after David Teniers the Elder, 1625-77 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Tortoise and the Frogs by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Grotesque Profiles of a Man and Woman Facing Each Other by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Interior of the House of Lords in session, Palace of Westminster, London by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Cupid on a Lion, After Giulio Romano by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Paradise Lost, from the Dance of Death by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Execution of the Earl of Strafford by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Deformed Heads of a Woman with Straight Hair and a Man with a Double-Brimmed Hat, Caricatures, Heads and Deformations after Leonardo da Vinci (series title) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a Man with Curly Hair, in Profile by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Thermaru Diocletiani Ruinae (Baths of Diocletian) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Doctor, from the Dance of Death by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1370122).jpg "Fable of the Lion and the Stallion by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "John Pym Reading Out a Letter in the House of Commons; Colonel Thomas Lunsford and His Soldiers Attacking Londoners by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Map of the City of Florence by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Prospect of the North side of Tangier regarding the main Sea from the hill as you come by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Whitehall from the River, with Lambeth in the Distance by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "St Paul")
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Verschillende_vogels_-_(MeisterDrucke-1371173).jpg "Chicken, Roosters, and Chicks by Peter van Liesebetten")
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.jpg "The Dog and His Reflection by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "View of the Tomb of Avaline, Countess of Lancaster (Wife of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster) in Westminster Abbey by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Sectioned Skull in Profile to Left with the Left Side of the Cranium Removed by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Members of the Star Chamber; Queen Henrietta Maria Sails from England by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Baroque Lute Player by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Royal Palace of Whitehall, London, ca. 1647 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375725).jpg "Shell, Pleuroploca Trapezium by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Old Woman, from the Dance of Death, 1651 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375931).jpg "Warships and a Whale in a Sea Storm by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Seven Putti Carrying the Cross by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Five grotesque heads, including an elderly man with an oak leaf wreath by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Elephant and Camel, 17th century by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Illustration to Thomas Killigrew")
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.jpg "Westminster in 1647, from")
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.jpg "Earl of Manchester, attributed to Delaporte, engraved by de Langlume by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Boar and Ass by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Head of a Man with Protruding Chin and Snub Nose Looking Upwards in Profile to Left by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Boar, Deer, Heron and Other Game by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375682).jpg "Shell, Tonna Galea by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Noble Spanish Woman, 1644 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Three Boys, Two Satyrs, a Bacchant, and a Goat (series title: Putti and Satyrs) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Three Cherubs and Two Boys on Clouds by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Interior of St Paul")
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.jpg "The Four Seasons: Autumn by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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Karikaturen_-_(MeisterDrucke-1375978).jpg "Heads of Two Young Women by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-12409).jpg "Shells (Turritella terebra and T. duplicata L.) by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Child, 1651 by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "Prospect of Yorke Castle at Tangier, from ye Strand, and the North-West by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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.jpg "The Water-Spouter, Blaise de Manfre by Wenceslaus Hollar")
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