Zegenende Christus

About this artwork

gravure

Art Historical Context

Behold the *Zegenende Christus*Blessing Christ), a delicate engraving by Israhel van Mecem, a prominent German printmaker active between 1455 and 1503. Measuring just 125 mm high by 72 mm wide, intimate work captures Christ raising his hand in benediction, embodying the devotional piety of late 15th-century Northern Europe. Van Meckenem, based in the Rhineland town that bears his name, was a master of the engraving technique, which allowed artists to produce multiple impressions from a single copper plate—a revolutionary method that democratized religious imagery for laypeople beyond the elite...

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 ...