Saint Bernard Vanquishing the Devil
15th century
Medium
Woodcut, hand-colored
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 x 5 5/16 in. (20.3 x 13.5cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, The Prospect Hill Foundation, Inc. Gift, and The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1992
Accession Number
1992.1038
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vivid world of 15th German devotional art with *Saint Bernard Vanquishing Devil*, a hand-colored woodcut from the Rhine region. Created by an anonymous artist, this compact print (8 x 5 5/16 inches) the revered Cistercian monk Saint triumphing over a horned devil, wielding his crozier—a bishop's staff symbolizing spiritual. Such imagery was profoundly popular in medieval Europe, embodying the Church's narrative of faith conquering evil and inspiring pilgrims and the faithful. Woodcuts like this one marked a revolutionary moment in art history, as the Upper Rhine emerged as a hub...