Saint Luke Painting the Virgin

Dirck Vellert

1526 · Engraving · Drawings and Prints

Vellert made this engraving of Saint Luke on July 28, 1526, the year he was elected to his second term as dean of the Guild of Saint Luke, the artists' guild, in Antwerp. He may have made the print to distribute to the guild's members in honor of his position. Vellert included many naturalistic details: an open book next to a knitting basket in the center, the odd combination of an apple resting on a book balanced on top of a jar in the lower left corner. While the entire scene occupies an elaborate High Renaissance architectural setting filled with classically derived ornamentation, the figure of the Virgin surrounded by a mass of animated crumpled drapery is rather Gothic in character.

Artist

Dirck Vellert

Date

1526

Medium

Engraving

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1986