Saint Valentine

1470/1480

German 15th Century

Associated Names
This print shows three people standing over two more people who lay on the ground. On the left, a tall man stands facing the right. He wears long red robes over a white gown, and a tall white pointed hat with red details. There is a yellow halo around his head, and he holds a tall golden staff with a curved top. On the right, two shorter people turn towards him. A man in a green robe holds a yellow cross and a box or envelope, while a woman with blonde hair and a red dress holds a chicken. Above them, several yellow crosses and other objects hang from a yellow bar. By their feet, two people with blonde hair lay on the ground, their eyes closed. All of the people in the print have light orange skin. A pig and a cat-like animal also stand on the ground. By the pig, in the bottom left corner, is a shield with a heraldic symbol that includes three crescent moons. The colorful red, green, orange, and yellow pigments have been applied imprecisely within the bold, black outlines of the print, so many areas of paint are patchy, with the off-white paper beneath showing through.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut, hand-colored in red lake, green, yellow, rose, and tan

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 13.4 x 9.5 cm (5 1/4 x 3 3/4 in.)
    overall (external frame dimensions): 39.4 x 31.8 cm (15 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.632

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, no. 1717, State b


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Paul Heitz, Strassburg. (Charles Stonehill, London); purchased 8 January 1938 by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA (L1760b and L1932d); gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 247, repro.

  • Selected 15th Century Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, 1965, no. 20.

2005

  • Origins of European Printmaking: Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Their Public, NGA and Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, 2005-2006, no. 98, repro.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schreiber, Wilhelm Ludwig. Handbuch de Holz- und Metailschnitte des XV Jahrhunderts. 8 vols. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hierseman, 1926-1930.

1965

  • Field, Richard S. Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1965: no. 247.

Inscriptions

at top, in block: Sat veletin bit got fur uns / zuraffach (Saint Valentin pray to God for us / at Rufach) [translation from Parshall, Peter, and Rainer Schoch. Origins of European Printmaking: Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Their Public. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2005, p. 309.]

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q64953101

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