Benedikt Hopfer.

item details

NameBenedikt Hopfer.

ProductionBartholomäus Kilian II; engraver (printmaker); 1685; Germany
Georg Hopfer; artist

Classificationprints, engravings, portraits, works on paper

Materialsink, paper

Materials Summaryengraving

Techniquesengraving

DimensionsPlate: 212mm (width), 320mm (height)

Registration Number1869-0001-244

Credit lineGift of Bishop Monrad, 1869

Overview

Bartholomäus Kilian (1630–1696), was a German engraver and member of the Kilian family of engravers. He was born in Augsburg as the son of Wolfgang Kilian and besides being a pupil of his father, he trained with the engravers Matthäus Merian the Younger in Frankfurt (son of Matthäus Merian I, who is well represented in Te Papa's collection) and François de Poilly in Paris. He was the younger brother of the engraver Philipp Kilian and died in Augsburg.

This engraving is a memorial portrait to the Protestant theologian and professor Benedikt Hopffer (1643-1684). It is based on a portrait by Thomas Hopffer, as indicated in the Latin inscription, which also alludes to Benedikt's Christian virtues. Possibly as a fellow churchman it was attrative to Bishop Ditlev Monrad and was among the print collection that the latter presented to the Colonial Museum in 1869.

See: Wikipedia, 'Bartholomäus Kilian', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholom%C3%A4us_Kilian

Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art April 2019