Christ Rebukes the Scribes and Pharisees
probably c. 1576/1580
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 6.9 × 6.6 cm (2 11/16 × 2 5/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1964.8.960
Art Historical Context
In the intimate engraving *Christ Rebukes the Sc and Pharisees*, French artist Léonard Gault captures a pivotal New Testament moment from Matthew , where Jesus sharply denounces the hypocrisy of religious leaders. Created around 1576–1580, tiny work—measuring just 6.9 × 6.6 cm—exemplifies the devotional prints popular in late 16th-century France during Catholic Counter-Reformation. Gaultier a skilled engraver active in Paris, often reproduced designs by leading painters, blending Mannerist elegance with religious fervor amid the era's religious tensions under King Henry III. Engraving's preci...
About the Artist
Léonard Gaultier · 1561–1641
Léonard Gaultier, a prolific French engraver born in Mainz around 1561, established himself as a prominent printmaker and publisher in Paris, where he died in 1641. Operating from addresses like "A l'Arche de Noé" on rue du Monceau-Saint-Gervais by 1585, he produced book illustrations, frontispieces, title pages, broadsides, almanacs, and standalone prints, often collaborating with publishers such...