Saint John the Evangelist
ca. 1480
Medium
Pen and blackish brown ink and gray wash over a black chalk underdrawing (still partially visible in the foliate forms of the throne at the upper right), the thin, pale lines of the preliminary ink drawing clearly distinguishable from the thicker, darker ones on top of them, which have dense, felt-like accumulations of tiny strokes in some of the shadows, but are by the same hand; traces of a curved line in black chalk and partly in brush and gray ink in the lower corners and at the upper right.
Dimensions
10 7/16 x 6 5/8 in. (26.5 x 16.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Culture
Upper Rhine (Switzerland)
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.851
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate drawing of *Saint John the Evangelist created around 1480 in the Upper region of Switzerland, exemplifies the refined draftsmanship of late medieval Northern European artists. Attributed to an anonymous master of this school, it captures the saint seated on a foliate throne, a common iconographic motif symbolizing his divine authorship of the Gospel and Book of Revelation. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Robert Lehman Collection, the work measures a modest 10 7/16 x 6 5/8 inches, inviting close contemplation of its intricate details. The artist's technique reveals a m...