St. Simon, from Christ, the Twelve Apostles and St. Paul
1525–76
Medium
Engraving; second state of two
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.95.94
Art Historical Context
Lambert Suavius’s *St. Simon* belongs a series of engravings portraying Christ, the Twelve Apostles, and St. Paul. Created sometime between 1525 and 1576, the print presents the saint with the attributes traditionally associated with him, rendered in the precise linear language of engraving. As a single sheet from this larger devotional cycle, it would have allowed viewers to encounter the apostle’s image both in private contemplation and as part of a widely circulated set. The medium itself is central to the work’s significance. Engraving, prized in the sixteenth century for its capacity to ...
About the Artist
Lambert Suavius · 1510–1576
Lambert Suavius (c.1510–c.1574/76), whose Flemish family name was Zutman, was born in Liège, in the southern Netherlands. He was the son of an episcopal goldsmith, Henri Zutman, and from his father's craft environment he inherited a training in the precise handling of metal and an appreciation for fine detail work. He became closely associated with his brother-in-law Lambert Lombard, the leading a...