The Master of the Etched Line Wenceslaus Hollar, born Václav Hollar in Prague, Bohemia, was a virtuoso of the Baroque era whose needle captured the very essence of 17th-century life. His journey into the world of art was born from tragedy; following the financial ruin of his family during the Sack of Prague in the Thirty Years' War, the young man, once destined for a legal career, turned instead to the delicate and demanding craft of engraving. This early hardship perhaps instilled in him the meticulous discipline required to master the etching needle, a tool he would use to weave intricate…