Vaclav (Wenceslaus) Hollar was born in Prague and trained in the workshop of Merian in Frankfurt. While there he became one of the foremost engravers of topographical views in the 17th century. In 1636, while working in Cologne, he met the English connoisseur, the Earl of Arundel, who employed him as a draftsman and took him on a tour of Europe to make views for his private collections.

On account of his English connections Hollar finally settled in London, and-during the Civil War he fought on the Royalist side; his views of the city form an invaluable record of its appearance before the Great Fire of 1666. He was very prolific and engraved a wide range of subjects apart from views, including illustrations of the Aesop's Fables.

Hollar produced a variety of works; his plates number some 2740, and include views, portraits, ships, religious subjects, heraldic subjects, landscapes, and still life in many different forms. His architectural drawings, such as those of Antwerp and Strassburg cathedrals, and his views of towns, are to scale, but are intended as pictures as well. He reproduced decorative works of other artists, as in the famous chalice after Mantegna's drawing.