Jan Wierix was barely 15 years old when he made this engraving. It is an extremely detailed copy of The Knight, Death and the Devil, a work by Dürer. It was common practice to copy masters in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Jan Wierix (1549-1618) made this extremely detailed copy of The Knight, Death and the Devil, an engraving by Dürer. Wierix was barely 15 years old, as we are told by the inscription at the top left ‘AE.15’: ‘AE’ is the Latin abbreviation for ‘age’. At the bottom right you can read the date when the engraving was made: 1564.
As well as a painter and draughtsman, Albrecht Dürer was also an outstanding engraver. Many masters copied not only drawings, but his engravings too. It was common practice in the 16th and 17th centuries to turn a master’s work into an engraving, and then sell the prints.
