Carl Schmidt-Helmbrechts (Helmbrechts/Ofr 1871-1936 Nuremberg)
"Empusa"
etching and aquatint in olive green printed on heavy laid paper
1894
39 x 29 cm (plate); 46,7 x 38,5 cm (sheet)
in the plate: signed and dated at the bottom right, title engraved under the subject and, at the bottom left, remarque of musical notes
unidentified dry stamp lower left
beautiful impression with wide margins
Condition: small gap in the upper right corner; uneven browning of the paper and minimal traces of foxing; otherwise good condition.
References:
Janet McKenzie, Michael Spens, et al., High Art and Low Life: The Studio and the Fin de Siècle (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1993) (catalogue of an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum).
Discussion:
Empusa is a shape-shifting female being in Greek mythology, said to possess a single leg of copper, commanded by Hecate, whose precise nature is obscure. In Late Antiquity, the empousai have been described as a category of phantoms or spectres, equated with the lamiai and mormolykeia, thought to seduce and feed on young men.
