The Mass of Saint Gregory
c. 1480/1490
Medium
engraving
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.136
Art Historical Context
Step into the intricate world of late 15th-century Northern printmaking with Israhel van Meckenem *The Mass of Saint Gregory* (c. 1480/1490), a masterful engraving now housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection. Van Meckenem, a artist and one of the era's most prolific engravers captures a pivotal moment from Christian legend: Pope Gregory the Great's vision of Christ appearing on the altar during Mass, affirming the miracle of transubstantiation. This scene, rich with symbolic figures like saints and angels, reflects the devotional fervor of the late Gothic period transition...
About the Artist
Israhel van Meckenem · 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 ...