Penance of St. John Chrysostom, Sebald Beham; Artist: After Agostino d' Musi | Mia

reclining nude woman lying on side with her back to viewer, looking toward ground; a boy stands behind the woman, resting his hand on her head, looking toward similar point on the ground; another nude figure crawls on all fours at L; foliage and castle in background — Penance of St. John Chrysostom, c. 1541-1545
Sebald Beham; Artist: After Agostino d' Musi
Engraving
Gift of Elizabeth, Julie, and Catherine Andrus in memory of John and Marion Andrus 2015.93.110
Not on View
Barthel Beham borrowed this seductive reclining nude—and dotted modeling—from Venetian art. The loose religious context is the legend of Saint John of Chrysostom, who was so contrite after ravaging an emperor’s daughter and killing her that he crawled on all fours as penance. Later she is found alive, along with a child. Beham followed artists Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach the Elder in making the crawling saint a distant speck. After Barthel’s death, brother Sebald took over the copper plate, strengthening the engraved lines to extend the plate’s usefulness.

file_download

Details

Title: Penance of St. John Chrysostom
Dated: c. 1541-1545
Artist: Sebald Beham; Artist: After Agostino d' Musi
Nationality: German
Artist Life: 1500–1550
Role: Artist
Gallery: Not on View
Department: European Art
Dimension: 2 3/16 × 3 1/16 in. (5.56 × 7.78 cm) (sheet)
Credit: Gift of Elizabeth, Julie, and Catherine Andrus in memory of John and Marion Andrus
Accession Number: 2015.93.110
Medium: Engraving
Country: Germany
Century: 16th century
Provenance: Paul Davidsohn (1839-1927'), Lugt 654, born Danzig. Theodor Apel (1884-1949), Lugt 16a, Ermlitz. John E. Andrus III, Wayzata, Minn.; by descent to his daughters, Elizabeth, Katie, and Julie; gave to MIA, 2015. Earlier provenances have been gathered, but further research will increase our knowledge of their histories.
Rights: Public Domain
Classification: Prints; Works on Paper
Object Name: Print
Catalogue Raisonne: Pauli, Hollstein 70 vii/viii; Bartsch 215 (vol. 8, p. 208)
Wikipedia: Cite this information
Metadata: Click here to see the machine readable JSON data that underpins this page.
Curator Approved: This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know

Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.