Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabee, from The Nine Heroes
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
image: 12 1/4 x 20 1/16 in. (31.1 x 51 cm) sheet: 12 11/16 x 20 1/16 in. (32.2 x 51 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.24.71
Tags
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection, where you'll find *Joshua, David, and Maccabee, from The Heroes*, a striking woodcut created around 1520 by two masters of Dutch printmaking: Lucas van Leyden and Cornelisz van Oosten. This large-scale print (over 20 inches wide) captures three legendary Jewish heroes—Joshua, the conqueror of Canaan; King David, the psalmist slayer of Goliath; Judas Maccabeus, the valiant leader of the Maccabean Revoltmounted on horseback in dynamic poses that evoke chivalric grandeur. Part of the popular medieval "Nine Worthies" seri...
About the Artist
Lucas van Leyden|Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen · 1484–1533
Lucas van Leyden (1494–1533) was a Dutch painter and printmaker who stands among the greatest engravers of the Northern Renaissance. Born in Leiden as either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, he lived and worked primarily in his native city, achieving international renown that rivaled the German master Albrecht Dürer. Lucas van Leyden revolutionized Netherlandish printmaking and was among the first...