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Saint Christopher

third quarter 16th century
Not on view
Saint Christopher is known as the giant who carried the Christ Child across a river to safety. Here, he appears as a decrepit man bracing himself under the Child’s extraordinary weight. The billowing drapery, with its bold, curvilinear folds, reveals the artist’s attention to dramatic contrasts of light and shadow against the dark ground of the paper. This chiaroscuro drawing style recalls the work of the German artist Hans Baldung, and the work was likely made by one of his followers.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Saint Christopher
  • Artist: Follower of Hans Baldung Grien (Upper Rhine, third quarter of the sixteenth century)
  • Date: third quarter 16th century
  • Culture: German, Upper Rhine
  • Medium: Pen and black ink, brush and blackish brown and blackish gray wash, highlighted with opaque white, on reddish brown prepared paper
  • Dimensions: 9 15/16 x 6 7/16 in. (25.2 x 16.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.854
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

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Bust of a Man in a Hat Gazing Upward, Martin Schongauer German, Pen and carbon black ink, over pen and brown ink, on paper prepared with sanguine wash.
Bust of a Man in a Hat Gazing Upward
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The Martyrdom of Saint Paul, Taddeo Zuccaro Italian, Pen and brown and gray ink, brown wash, over black chalk, heightened with white, on buff paper.
The Martyrdom of Saint Paul
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ca. 1557–58
Study for the Equestrian Monument to Francesco Sforza, Antonio Pollaiuolo Italian, Pen and brown ink, light and dark brown wash; outlines of the horse and rider pricked for transfer.
Study for the Equestrian Monument to Francesco Sforza
Antonio Pollaiuolo
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Ecstatic Christ, Hans Baldung (called Hans Baldung Grien) German, Pen and two shades of carbon black ink, traces of black chalk underdrawing
Ecstatic Christ
Hans Baldung (called Hans Baldung Grien)
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Three Virtues (Temperance, Hope, and Fortitude or Justice) and Studies of a Seated Man, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Metalpoint, touches of brush and brown wash, heightened with white (partially oxidized in the figure at the lower left), on reddish violet prepared paper. Some lines retraced in pen and brown ink at a later date., Italian, Florence
Three Virtues (Temperance, Hope, and Fortitude or Justice) and Studies of a Seated Man
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1420

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