ticketsMember | Make a donation

The Nun in "Count Burckhardt" (for "Once a Week," September 27, 1862)

After James McNeill Whistler American
Engraver Associated with Dalziel Brothers British
Printer Chiswick Press British
1862
Not on view
In 1862 Whistler designed four wood engravings for the London periodical "Once a Week." Many of his Pre-Raphaelite friends were illustrating poems and short stories at this moment and the decade proved to be the start of a new flowering of British illustration. Founded in 1859, "Once a Week" supported the movement and was known as a "journal of the younger men." Whister's image responds to the ballad "Burckhardt von Keller" which tells of a count bewitched and then consumed by a magical serpent-like woman, leaving his bethrothed Clara to wonder what has befallen him. Related lines read: " Nor rode he again at even-tide, / To the Lady Clara his plighted bride. / Weep not, Clara, weeping is vain; / Tears will not bring him back again. / Long at the turret thy watch mayst keep, / Wilt nevermore see him climb the steep..." This is a proof of the wood engraving published September 27, 1862.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Nun in "Count Burckhardt" (for "Once a Week," September 27, 1862)
  • Artist: After James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
  • Engraver: Associated with Dalziel Brothers (British, active 1839–93)
  • Printer: Chiswick Press (British, London)
  • Date: 1862
  • Medium: Wood engraving; proof
  • Dimensions: Image: 6 3/16 in. × 4 in. (15.7 × 10.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1922
  • Object Number: 22.112.5
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
The Relief Fund in Lancashire, The Major's Daughter, The Morning Before the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and Count Burkhardt (for "Once a Week"), James McNeill Whistler American, Wood engraving; proofs
The Relief Fund in Lancashire, The Major's Daughter, The Morning Before the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and Count Burkhardt (for "Once a Week")
Multiple artists/makers
1862
The artist's butterfly in an enlarged version with a forked tail
James McNeill Whistler
19th century
Study, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithograph with scraping, on a prepared half-tint ground; only state (Chicago); printed in brown ink on grayish wove paper
Study
James McNeill Whistler
1879
Reading, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithograph with scraping; printed in black ink on grayish chine mounted on ivory wove paper; fourth state of four (Chicago)
Reading
James McNeill Whistler
1879
Windsor (Memorial), James McNeill Whistler American, Drypoint; third state of four (Glasgow); printed in dark brown ink on ivory laid paper
Windsor (Memorial)
James McNeill Whistler
1887

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.