Silver Statuette of St. John, from the "Wittenberg Reliquaries" (Woodcut, Met-Objekt 2458)
Original title: Silver Statuette of St. John, from the "Wittenberg Reliquaries"
kurzbeschreibung
A woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder reproduces a silver statuette of Saint John that belonged to the Wittenberg relic treasury. The sheet comes from a series recording the relic collection of Frederick the Wise. Executed as a woodcut, it measures 13.2 × 6.6 cm.
Description
Saint John stands at the centre of the image on a pedestal trimmed with grapes and leaves. A long mantle wraps around the figure; the right hand holds a chalice-like vessel, the left a shield bearing a cross. The hair falls in curls and waves. The layout is symmetrical, the light evenly spread, the palette monochrome. Detailed lines and hatching bring out texture and form.
Context
This woodcut comes from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, who served as court painter to Frederick the Wise in Wittenberg. It belongs to a series of roughly 123 sheets cataloguing the relic collection of the Schlosskirche in Wittenberg. The series arose amid the relic cult and veneration of saints of the early sixteenth century. No exact date is known; a date around 1509 has been suggested.
Impact
Quiet and solemn, the sheet meets the viewer with delicate lines and a balanced arrangement. The monochrome woodcut technique gives it graphic clarity and lets the silver statue stand out as a precious object.
Technique
Here the image was cut into a wooden block and then printed onto paper. Fine lines and hatching create sculptural effects and imitate the sheen and detail of the silver statuette.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)