The Censer
1470/74
Medium
Engraving on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 25.8 × 20.7 cm (10 3/16 × 8 3/16 in.); Sheet, trimmed within plate: 30.2 × 20.7 cm (11 15/16 × 8 3/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
86268
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Although best known now for his engravings, Martin Schongauer was initially a goldsmith as well as a painter. The extraordinary detail of his early Censer suggests either a design for a planned commission, or a close replica of an existing one. Censers were ornate sculptured objects used in Catholic churches to distribute clouds of incense during Mass by swinging them back and forth on long chains. This one is covered with a heavenly host and boasts numerous openwork areas to allow the clouds of...
About the Artist
Martin Schongauer · 1435–1491
Martin Schongauer, born around 1450–1453 in Colmar, Alsace, emerged from a family of skilled artisans. The third of four or five sons of goldsmith Caspar Schongauer, who had relocated from Augsburg to Colmar around 1440, Martin was immersed in the goldsmith's trade from youth, likely receiving his initial training in his father's workshop—a common path for early engravers. He further honed his ski...