The First Interview of Werther and Charlotte
In this subject from "The Sorrows of the Young Werther," the hero encounters Charlotte caring for younger siblings after they have lost their mother. Goethe's epistolary novel centers on their ensuing tragic love story. Published in Leipzig in 1774, the text appeared in English in 1779 and is considered a key early Romantic text.
Credit: Gertrude and Thomas Jefferson Mumford Collection, Gift of Dorothy Quick Mayer, 1942
October 16, 1782
Stipple and etching with hand-coloring
35.0 x 40.9cm
42.119.66
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection