Saint Luke Drawing a Portrait of the Virgin

c. 1475

Israhel van Meckenem

Associated Names
Israhel van Meckenem

Artist, German, c. 1445 - 1503

The image shows two figures, a seated woman and a kneeling man, within an indoor space resembling a chapel or sacred room. The seated woman is holding a nude child on her lap. She has long hair and serene facial features. The kneeling man has curly hair and is wearing a long robe and a cap, holding a scroll or image with both hands. An angel is hovering above them with wings spread, resting their hands on a pillar. In the background, there are tall, narrow, arched windows with lattice designs and furniture on the right. The room features architectural elements suggesting it is part of a larger building, such as arches and columns, and offers a view of rooftops and a distant structure through the windows.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.140

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Lehrs, Vol. 9, p.299, no. 370, State i/ii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Charles Sessler, Philadelphia); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1928; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1945

  • Postcard Prints of the National Gallery, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1945-1946, no catalogue.

1953

  • Nuremberg and the German World, 1460-1530: Prints and books from the Kress and Rosenwald Collections, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953, no catalogue.

1962

  • The Saints in Prints & Illuminations from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, The Art Gallery of the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 1962-1963, no. 35.

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 177, repro.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberge

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 177.

Watermarks

Gothic Y with cross

Wikidata ID

Q64958398

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