(Remarkable Characters) | A portrait of Johanna Sophia Liebschern, the "foot artist"

(Remarkable Characters)

Liebschern, Johanna Sophia. N.p., [ca. 1780s]

Engraving (216 x 184 mm). Etched portrait with engraved text at foot, laid on a sheet of paper; a little spotting, tape to left margin of verso.

A portrait of the Fußkünstlerin, or "foot artist," Johanna Sophia Liebschern. The text below the etching describes her as having been born in Clausnitz in Saxony, and states that “she has no arms but is able to use knife, fork, and spoon with her left foot and feed herself, is able to write prettily, sew, draw, cut a quill pen, load and shoot a pistol.” Encounters with Liebschern were noted in several texts of the late eighteenth century, and suggest that she gained considerable fame.

PROVENANCE:

Princes of Oettingen-Wallerstein, Maihingen and Harburg