Sacred Monogram in a Sacred Heart on a Cloth Held by an Angel

c. 1480

German 15th Century

Associated Names
German 15th Century

Artist

This is a drawing of an angel holding a banner with a heart symbol. The image features a central figure with curly hair and wings, dressed in robes. The figure holds a banner with a large heart with the letters "IHS" inscribed on it, pierced by an arrow. There is text at the bottom in an old style of script. The background includes elements suggestive of an ethereal or heavenly setting, such as clouds and a border. The style of the artwork appears to have a religious or spiritual theme, reminiscent of illustrations from historical or medieval texts, with muted and earthy colors typical of earlier illustrative works.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut, hand-colored in red, green, yellow, gold,and orange

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    Overall: 8.2 x 6.5 cm (3 1/4 x 2 9/16 in.)
    overall (external frame dimensions): 39.4 x 31.8 cm (15 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.802

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, Vol. IX, no. 1793, State c

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Anton W.M. Mensing; Sotheby's, December 16, 1936, lot 228.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 259, repro.

2005

  • Origins of European Printmaking: Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Their Public, NGA and Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, 2005-2006, no. 79, 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.

Inscriptions

at bottom, in block: Das hertz ist durch stohen worden mit / dem sper unsers heren ihesu cristi (This heart has been pierced with the spear [that pierced] our Lord Jesus Christ) [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. 261.]

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q64953399

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