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Inventing the Market: Authenticity, Replication, and the Prints of Israhel van Meckenem

Wehn, James R., III
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case155428951539756

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Art History.
In the history of printmaking, the goldsmith-engraver Israhel van Meckenem (German, 1440/45-1503) represents a paradox: an inventive copyist. His innovations include the earliest printed self-portrait and prototypes of genre scenes depicting everyday life. Meckenem was also the first printmaker to brand engravings he produced with his first name. However, many of the prints he signed were copies of works by other artists. Given the strong association of name and authorship that developed in the Early Modern period, art historians have struggled to evaluate Meckenem’s significance without invoking the modern stigma of plagiarism. Founded on the examination of approximately 1500 extant impressions of his engravings, this research project investigates Meckenem’s printmaking practice—especially his copies and his treatment of products—in fifteenth-century terms. These diverse engravings demonstrate that the early print market, fostered by the efficiencies of the printing press, interrupted longstanding artistic practices and changed cultural perceptions about art, copies, authenticity, and authorship. Chapter 1 examines the intersection of Meckenem’s personal engraving style and his copying methods. His editorial approach while copying reflects an emerging awareness of individual artists’ styles in the marketplace. The second and third chapters investigate the production and reception of two types of prints. The evolving treatment of seven apostle series throughout Meckenem’s career traces his evolving efforts to present devotional subjects as visually engaging, collectable works of fine art. Meckenem’s keen interest in decorative leaf work and flowers led him to cultivate a market for ornamental engravings, from pattern prints to elaborate works in which ornate flora served as a metaphor of artistic fruitfulness. The final chapter probes the meaning of Ornamental with the Engraver’s Name, a showpiece in which Meckenem spelled out “ISRAHEL M” in decorative leaves and equated himself with the Old Testament patriarch Jacob, renamed Israel by God. In so doing, Meckenem invoked a long-standing theological interpretation of his first name as a prophecy of an eternal vision of God in paradise. This heretofore unexplored reading of Meckenem’s trademark `Israhel’ enriches our understanding of how early printmakers’ self-promotion fostered competition in an open market and nurtured a discerning audience.
Catherine Scallen, PhD (Committee Chair)
Emily Peters, PhD (Committee Member)
Erin Benay, PhD (Committee Member)
David Rothenberg, PhD (Committee Member)
331 p.
Art History
Israhel van Meckenem; printmaking; engraving; ornament; authorship; art market; early modern

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Wehn, III, J. R. (2019). Inventing the Market: Authenticity, Replication, and the Prints of Israhel van Meckenem [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case155428951539756

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Wehn, III, James. Inventing the Market: Authenticity, Replication, and the Prints of Israhel van Meckenem. 2019. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case155428951539756.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Wehn, III, James. "Inventing the Market: Authenticity, Replication, and the Prints of Israhel van Meckenem." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case155428951539756

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.