Ornament with the Tree of Jesse

Israhel van Meckenem

Associated Names
Israhel van Meckenem

Artist, German, c. 1445 - 1503

This is a drawing of an intricate design featuring numerous crowned figures and decorative foliage. The image depicts figures arranged amidst swirling vine-like patterns. The figures, all adorned with crowns, appear in various dynamic poses, holding different objects or playing musical instruments. The background is filled with ornate leafy designs. Each figure occupies a distinct compartment formed by the entwined foliage. The entire composition is executed with fine lines and shading.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.169

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Lehrs, Vol. 9, p.459, no. 618, State i

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(sale 162, C.G. Boerner, Leipzig, 5 November 1929, no. 438); (Charles Sessler, Philadelphia); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1929; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • Five Centuries of Print Making, The Print Club of Philadelphia, 1931, no. 5.

1933

  • An Exhibition of Prints from the Collection of Lessing J. Rosenwald, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, 1933, no. 19.

1936

  • The Centennial Exposition: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, Graphic Arts, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1936, no. 5.

1941

  • The First Century of Printmaking 1400-1500, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1941, no. 118.

1946

  • Music in Prints from the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no catalogue.

1965

  • Drolleries and Demons: Six Centuries of 'Fantastic' Prints, IBM Gallery, New York, NY, 1965, no. 4.

1966

  • Masters of Etching and Engraving from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Peoria, IL, 1966, no. 8.

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 248, repro.

1990

  • Gardens on Paper: Prints and Drawings, 1200-1900, NGA, 1990, no. 18, 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. 248.

1990

  • Clayton, Virginia Tuttle. Gardens on Paper: Prints and Drawings, 1200-1900. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1990: no. 18.

Watermarks

flower on a stem (Lehrs 1)

Wikidata ID

Q64958451

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