A Censer
Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1450–1491)
c. 1480–90
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
26.4 × 21 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1951.429
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
Censers are liturgical containers swung back and forth on long chains to disperse incense during the celebration of the mass. In this print, Martin Schongauer exploited his early training as a goldsmith to create a detailed reproduction of a life-size censer. The exquisite filigree design of the openwork areas, and the minute figurines of angels holding chains that crumple on the ground and cast slight shadows suggest that Schongauer's Censer could have been a close replica of an existing censer...