Christ the Redeemer (Salvator Mundi)
Israhel van Meckenem (German, c. 1440–1503)
c. 1490–1500
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
image: 20.3 × 14.3 cm · sheet: 20.3 × 14.3 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1949.563
Tags
male
About this artwork
Trained as a goldsmith, Meckenem displayed the decorative potential of his art by engraving a glimmering burst of sword-like rays around Christ’s head and a variety of patterns on Christ’s robe, his jeweled sash, and the tapestries draping the gothic pulpit. The presentation of Christ within ecclesiastic architecture symbolically connects Christ’s authority as Salvator Mundi—Savior of the World—with the Church.