Onofrius, from the series Solitudo Sive Vitae Patrum Eremicolarum

Art Historical Context

In the late 16th century, artist Maerten de Vos designed *Onofrius*, an engraving from the series *Solitudo Sive Vitae Patrum Eremicum* ("Solitude or the Lives the Eremitic Fathers masterfully executed by engravers Johann Sadeler I and Raphael Sadeler I around 1585–86. This print, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Elisha Whittelsey Collection, captures the life of Saint Onuphrius, a 4th-century Egyptian hermit who retreated to the desert for decades of solitary prayer and penance. Amidst trees and a prominent cross—evident in the composition's tags—the saint embodies the ascetic ideal re...