Saint Christopher (1506, Met-Objekt 2446)
Original title: Saint Christopher
kurzbeschreibung
Christopher carries the Christ child across a river, and Lucas Cranach the Elder turned this motif into a woodcut in 1506. The sheet measures 28.6 × 20.5 cm and survives in the second of two states (Hollstein).
Description
The saint occupies the left half of the picture, wearing a long robe and an ankle-length cloak. The child rides on his shoulders in a hovering, restless pose, a ball in his hand. Curving lines and spray along the lower edge mark the ford. Behind, trees, rocks and a town of houses rise in layers, their forms built from dense, even strokes.
Context
Cranach cut this block in 1506 while serving as court painter to the Saxon electors in Wittenberg. In the late Middle Ages Saint Christopher was widely venerated as patron of travellers and protector against sudden death. That two states of the printing block exist points to later reworking, through which Cranach refined the image.
Impact
The giant's powerful, fully modelled body meets the delicate, floating child, and this contrast carries the print. Evenly drawn lines and a palette limited to greys keep the view calm yet full of detail, so the eye follows the story being told.
Technique
For printing, the drawing was cut into a woodblock and then pulled. Figures and landscape alike arise solely from dense, precisely guided lines, with no shading or lightened passages. This impression comes from the second state of the block and documents a revision by the artist.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)