Bust of St. Paul, from the Wittenberg Reliquaries
Original title: Bust of St. Paul, from the Wittenberg Reliquaries
kurzbeschreibung
This woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder comes from the series of saints' images made for the Wittenberg reliquary books. It presents Paul the Apostle as a bust with a halo, a book, and a quill. The sheet measures 16.3 × 11.3 cm and was printed in the early 16th century.
Description
An old man with a long, wavy beard and flowing hair appears, enclosed by a radiating halo. In his left hand he holds a book, in his right a quill — a sign of preaching or reading. A chain lies over his collared garment. Leaves and grapes fill the foreground and seem to carry symbolic meaning. Along the top edge one reads the text 'Predicatur zu Oringen.' The layout is symmetrical, the face rests at the center, and the print remains monochrome and finely cut.
Context
The Wittenberg reliquaries were a collection of relics kept by Frederick the Wise in the castle church at Wittenberg. For the reliquary books, which recorded the relics together with their containers, Cranach supplied the woodcuts. The Paul image belongs to a series of saints that were used both as single-sheet woodcuts and as book illustrations. A precise date is lacking, but the sheet is placed around 1509–1520.
Impact
Clear lines and the symmetrical arrangement give the sheet a calm, dignified presence. Book and quill mark the saint as a scholar and preacher, from which a didactic air emerges. Despite the plain monochrome printing, the strokes remain delicate and make the image appear fine.
Technique
The print relies on the woodcut, a relief method in which the design is cut away from the wooden block and then pulled onto paper. Cranach worked with thin lines to render the beard and the texture of the fabric. An even brightness without shading is characteristic of the early woodcut.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)