Art Institute of Chicago

Seleucus and His Son

Wenceslaus Hollar (Bohemian, 1607-1677)

Date

1637

Medium

Etching on ivory laid paper

Culture

Bohemia

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Wenceslaus Hollar dedicated this etching to his patron Thomas Howard, the 14th Earl of Arundel, and documented much of Howard’s art collection in print. This image depicts the epitome of ancient justice, Seleucus, who offered one of his own eyes to save his adulterous son from losing both. The print reproduces Giulio Romano’s fresco in the Palazzo del Te in Mantua— which supplied the architectural shape of the image. However, it is likely that Hollar used not an original preparatory drawing but a copy that was in Arundel’s collection and is now in the British Museum.

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