Artwork
Exempel und Lehr Jetziger Welt Lauf
Exempel und Lehr Jetziger Welt Lauf is an ink print by the Baroque artist Andreas Bretschneider III. It dates from 1622 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Andreas Bretschneider III’s 1622 etching, Exempel und Lehr Jetziger Welt Lauf, presents a densely populated interior scene rendered in black‑and‑white line. The composition is confined to a modestly sized plate, yet it brims with movement as figures and animals intersect in a tangled tableau.
Subject & Meaning
The image depicts a chaotic gathering in a room where a woman cradles a child while surrounding individuals scramble, some clothed in period attire, others partially nude or wounded. Scattered broken dishes, spilled food and miscellaneous objects litter the floor, suggesting disorder and perhaps a moral commentary on human folly.
Technique & Style
Executed as an etching, the work relies on incised lines on a metal plate to achieve fine detail and tonal variation. Bretschneider’s handling of line density creates a sense of crowdedness, while the contrast between sharply defined figures and the muddled background heightens the dramatic tension.
History & Provenance
Created in 1622, the print belongs to the early seventeenth‑century German tradition of didactic genre scenes. Its provenance is not extensively documented, but it has been cited in catalogues of Bretschneider’s oeuvre as an example of his narrative approach to printmaking.
Context
The early 1600s saw a rise in moralizing prints that used everyday chaos to illustrate broader social warnings. Bretschneider’s work aligns with this trend, employing a domestic setting to reflect on the instability of contemporary life.
Artist & collection
