Wenceslaus Hollar

Civil Discord

Civil Discord by Wenceslaus Hollar

Artwork Detail

Known in the ancient world as an amphisbaena (from

the Greek ‘to go both ways’), this mythical serpent

represents the opposed forces in English society

that tore the kingdom apart. Hollar avoided directly

commenting on the conflict and chose instead to

satirise it with this allegory that one scholar has

noted represents the ‘sheer viperine nastiness of civil

conflict’.

Title
Civil Discord
Artist/creator
Wenceslaus Hollar
Production date
1643
Medium
etching
Dimensions
67 x 103 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, bequest of Dr Walter Auburn, 1982
Accession no
M1982/1/3/34
Other ID
481 Pennington Catalogue Raisonné
Copyright
No known copyright restrictions
Department
International Art
Display status
Not on display

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