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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Varie Teste de Capricci, Title Page 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
The Philadelphia Museum of Art possesses a portfolio of etchings published by Johann Heinrich Schönfeld (yesterday's featured painter) in 1656, shortly after returning to Germany in his late forties after many years studying and working in Italy.
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Saint Looking Upward 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Bearded Man 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Bust of Bacchus 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Bearded Man in Profile 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Bust of Woman 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Warrior Bust 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Head of Monk 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Saint in Meditation 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Two Views of Bearded Man 1656 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
Outside the sequence of imagined heads and busts, an etching and a drawing by Schönfeld (below) represent Democritus, the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. In both designs, the sage is depicted in contemplation of life's vanity – among proliferating signs, emblems and overtly decaying reminders of mortality.
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Democritus Meditating on Death 1654 etching National Gallery of Art (U.S.) |
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| Johann Heinrich Schönfeld Democritus Meditating on Death 1655 drawing Staatsgalerie Stuttgart |