Masters of the Early Netherlandish Prints in the Gallery of Graphic Art of the State Hermitage Museum continues the previous exhibition and introduces the viewer to another facet of the collection of Old Netherlandish graphics: printmaking. This part of the Hermitage collection is unusually large-scale, it includes a number of significant works and is capable of presenting with almost exhaustive completeness the key stages in the development of the Netherlandish metal engraving.

Chronologically, the exhibition covers just under a century – from the late 1500s to the early 1510s, the time of the creation of early prints by the outstanding engraver Lucas van Leyden, and until the mid-1580s, when the Old Netherlands collapsed into Protestant Holland and Catholic Flanders.

Until now, the Hermitage collection of Old Netherlandish engravings has not been the subject of special study or a separate exhibition. The exhibition in the Graphics Gallery should not only introduce visitors to the best examples of Dutch printmaking of that time, but also lay the foundation for its comprehensive study.

In total, the Graphics Gallery displays more than a hundred sheets. These include compositions on biblical and ancient subjects, allegories, portraits, landscapes, genre-satirical scenes, ornamental and architectural graphics. Among the masters whose works can be seen at the exhibition are Lucas van Leyden, Maarten van Heemskerk, Frans Floris, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Jan van der Straat and many others. 

The only woodcut that complements the story of Old Netherlandish metal engraving is the frieze Customs and Way of Life of the Turks, based on the compositions of Peter Cook van Aelst. 

The exhibition’s curator is Alexander Konev, researcher in the Department of Engravings of the Department of Western European Fine Art of the State Hermitage. 

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue (State Hermitage Publishing House, 2023).