Saint Paul with Book and Sword

1540

Hans Holbein the Younger

Associated Names
Hans Holbein the Younger

Artist, German, 1497/1498 - 1543

The image displays a man standing upright, slightly angled to the side. He has a long beard and shoulder-length hair, giving his face a solemn look. He wears a draped robe cinched at the waist with a belt, holding a book in his left hand and a staff in his right hand. He stands within an ornate architectural frame with classical elements like pillars and decorative floral motifs. The background is a plain, pale surface. An inscription "S.PAVLVS" can be seen at the base of the frame, identifying the figure.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 13.3 × 8.9 cm (5 1/4 × 3 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.4852

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Passavant, Vol. III.379, no. 25

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Charles Sessler, Philadelphia); purchased 1930 by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkinton, PA; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1958

  • Festival of Fine Art, Barber-Scotia College, Concord, NC, 1958, no cat.

1962

  • Installation during Fine Art Festival, American River College, Sacramento, CA, 1962, no cat.

Bibliography

1860

  • Passavant, Johann David. Le peintre-graveur, contenant l'histoire de la gravure sur bois, sur metalet au buring jusque vers la fin du XVI siecle .... 6 vols. Leipzig: Rudolph Weigel, 1860-1864.

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts, ca. 1400-1700. Vol. XIV B. Roosendaal, 1988: no. 103

Inscriptions

verso, upper left, in graphite by a later hand: K8718 J4796 C19815

Markings

none

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q64957304

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