St. George
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 5/8 × 7 9/16 in. (29.6 × 19.2 cm) Plate (St. George): 2 3/8 × 3 5/16 in. (6.1 × 8.3 cm) Plate (Designs for Goldsmiths): 2 1/2 × 3 9/16 in. (6.4 × 9.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1929
Accession Number
29.16.7a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
This engraving of St. George, created between1470 and 1503, the legendary saint in a dynamic moment of combat, complete with his horse, spear, and implied presence of a dragon rescued figures. Attributed tohel van Meckenem working in the circle of Martin Schongauer, the reflects the vibrant tradition of late fifteenth-century German graphic art. Schongauer was among the first artists to elevate engraving to a sophisticated medium, and Meckenem, a prolific engraver and goldsmith, helped spread these innovations across Northern Europe. The medium itself is central to the work’s significance. En...
About the Artist
Israhel van Meckenem|Martin Schongauer · 1435–1503
Israhel van Meckenem (c. 1445–1503), also known as Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, was a pioneering German engraver and goldsmith based in Bocholt, near the Dutch border, renowned as the most prolific printmaker of the fifteenth century. Born into a family possibly of Dutch origin, he was the son of Israhel van Meckenem the Elder, a goldsmith who settled in Bocholt in 1457. He trained initially ...