The Embrace

Faintly visible on the wall above the window, the print is dated 1503, making it the latest of the dated prints by the Master MZ. Lehrs consider this very endearing - one might say cheeky - print of the young embracing couple the master's most mature and beautiful engraving. No other print within his oeuvre, Lehrs wrote, compares to it in 'the loving execution, depth of sensibility and atmosphere'. The depiction of the light-filled room with the 'Lüsterweibchen'-chandelier and richly carved table is particularly charming, and it is remarkable that it predates Dürer's Saint Jerome in his Study, with it's similar interior, by eleven years.

As the paper evidence suggests, contemporary impressions of the prints by the Master MZ are extremely rare. Most are printed on a firm laid paper with many inclusions, such as the present example, and were probably printed several decades later. It seems that only a small number of impressions were pulled during the master's brief active period (from around 1500 to 1503) and that the plates resurfaced and were re-printed around the middle of the 16th century. As Lehrs points out, the present plate prints particularly well even in such later impressions.

The present impression is similar in quality to the Malcolm impression in the British Museum, which Lehrs considers early and very fine.