Saturn
Medium
punch engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (circle, trimmed within platemark): 12 × 12 cm (4 3/4 × 4 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5806
Art Historical Context
Behold the celestial intrigue of *Saturn*, a delicate punch engraving created by Jonas Silber in 1582, now housed in the National Gallery of's Rosenwald Collection. intimate circular print, measuring just 12 × 12 cm on laid, captures the formidable Roman god of time and agriculture—or perhaps the distant planet—in a trimmed format that hints at its origins in a series of planetary emblems. Originally attributed to mysterious "Master IS," a monogrammist engraver the era, it was later reattributed to Silber, reflecting the evolving scholarship on 16th-century Northern European printmakers. Punc...