Saint Simon standing facing left, holding a saw and a book
Original title: Saint Simon standing facing left, holding a saw and a book
kurzbeschreibung
Around 1515–27 Marco Dente engraved Saint Simon standing squarely to the viewer, his gaze turned to the left. The saint wears a long robe with a mantle laid over it; his right hand grips a saw and his left holds a book. The sheet belongs to Renaissance religious printmaking.
Description
Simon stands facing forward while his head points left, a semicircular halo of rays around him. A long-sleeved robe and a mantle falling across the shoulder make up his dress. He carries the saw in his right hand and the book in his left. The ground behind him stays empty and uniform in tone, and the figure rests on a flat floor. The artist's monogram sits at the lower left.
Context
Marco Dente, called Marco da Ravenna, was an Italian engraver of the Renaissance who worked in Marcantonio Raimondi's workshop. Made between 1515 and 1527, the print falls in a period of busy production of religious prints in Rome. It belongs to a series of saint figures intended for private use and the art market. The saw and book point to the iconography of this saint's martyrdom.
Impact
The figure stands calm and dignified, an effect produced by precisely placed lines and a clear contrast of light and dark. Since the ground stays empty, the attributes and the saint's person come fully into view, giving the image a meditative mood.
Technique
A burin cut the lines into a copper plate — an engraving. Fine hatching, varying in strength, builds tonal values and surface texture. Trimmed to 21 × 14.2 cm, the sheet matches the usual format of such prints, which were often cut down for collectors' albums.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)