Israhel van Meckenem

Goldsmith and printmaker
Israhel van Meckenem was a highly productive German printmaker and goldsmith. He worked primarily in Bocholt, and was apprenticed by his father Israhel van Meckenem the Elder. Around 1466, he also studied under the master E. S. in Constance.

Around 1468 Master E. S. died, and van Meckenem assumed many of his plates and reprinted them. By the 1470s he was back in Bocholt working as a printmaker and goldsmith receiving several commissions to create silver objects for the city council.

Van Meckenem was a highly creative artist in his own right, but he was also a prolific copyist of other printmakers’ works. About one fourth of his works are his own designs. He was an artist but it is also clear that he was a savvy businessman.