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Lucas van Leyden

The Conversion of St. Paul, 1509

Description

Maker

  • Lucas van Leyden, ca. 1494-1533, Netherlandish

Title

The Conversion of St. Paul

Year

1509

Medium

Engraving on medium weight cream laid paper, trimmed within platemark

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • engraving

Supports

  • Medium weight cream laid paper

Dimensions

Plate/Image: 28.3 x 40.5 cm (11 1/8 x 15 15/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Verso:in pencil, LR:BVII 394.107; in center:Pap 53/Center; in LL within British museum stamp:S.C.; below British Museum stamp:Descriptive___(?) one on page 51-/B 107/K10151; in LL corner:55(

Watermark: letter R within crowned shield (Briquet 8983)

Identification

State

1st of 3

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Prints

Credit

Gift of Mr. Henry D. Sharpe

Object Number

47.035

Projects & Publications

Publications

The Brilliant Line

Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Read Online

La Peintre Graveur, 1803-1821

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line

September 18, 2009 - January 3, 2010

Albrecht Dürer’s prints had made their way to the Netherlands by the early 1500s, and the German master’s success in the medium may have encouraged the younger Lucas van Leyden to pursue printmaking with dedication. Lucas’s preeminence in engraving and his influence on the style of other engravers would come to rival that of Dürer. Lucas carved shallower lines than Dürer, which meant that his plates held up to fewer impressions on the press. His delicate, feathery strokes and his characteristic use of a gray, silvery ink created atmospheric effects far more subtle than Dürer’s boldly graphic compositions.

While on the road to Damascus, Saul, a persecutor of Christians, was struck by a blinding light and, confronted with the voice of Christ, converted to Christianity. Now St. Paul, he became one of the most important early missionaries. Lucas portrayed the dramatic conversion only in the far left background. In the foreground, he depicted the blinded Paul led, helpless, to Damascus. Lucas often inverted the dramatic and mundane aspects of religious narratives, which challenged viewers to ponder the true nature of the story: in this case, St. Paul’s temporary blindness contrasts with his spiritual revelation or “true” vision.

The Landscape Tradition in Printmaking

January 19 - April 22, 1990

Engravings of the 15th and 16th Centuries

November 10, 1948 - February 4, 1949

Recent Acquisitions of the Print Room

September 28 - October 30, 1948

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is The Conversion of St. Paul with the accession number of 47.035. To request a higher resolution file, please submit an online request.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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