Portrait of Matthias Buchinger
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.The radiant red of the calligraphic inscription announces the itinerant Buchinger’s sojourn in Amsterdam in 1705. This is the first print signed by Buchinger, who at the time was already thirty-one and married to his first of four wives. It shows the performer wearing a tricorn hat and standing on an ample cushion before an ornate table littered with the objects of his exhibitions: a quill and inkpot, a drawing of a flower, a dulcimer-like instrument (the German hackbrett), and a pair of dice. These objects, along with the rifle leaning against the table, demonstrate Buchinger’s range of skills and reappear in the vignettes in an etching by Elias Baeck.
Artwork Details
- Title: Portrait of Matthias Buchinger
- Artist: Anonymous, British, 18th century
- Sitter: Matthias Buchinger (German, Ansbach 1674–1739)
- Date: 1705
- Medium: Engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet: 10 1/2 × 7 3/4 in. (26.7 × 19.7 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Collection of Ricky Jay
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints