Artwork
Saints Stephen and Maurice
Saints Stephen and Maurice is an unspecified painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Anton Woensam. It dates from 1520 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Technique & Style
Woensam’s handling shows careful layering of translucent glazes over a light priming, producing luminous flesh tones and richly colored drapery folds.
The painting employs oil on oak panel, a standard Northern European support of the period. Woensam’s handling shows careful layering of translucent glazes over a light priming, producing luminous flesh tones and richly colored drapery folds.
Stylistically, the figures stand in a shallow, stage-like space with understated landscape recession behind them. Stephen’s deacon’s dalmatic and Maurice’s armor are rendered with precise linear definition, while the faces exhibit individualized features set against a neutral, softly modeled background. The composition balances symmetry with subtle asymmetry, anchoring the viewer’s gaze on the centrally placed saints.
History & Provenance
The panel Saints Stephen and Maurice was created by Anton Woensam in 1520 on oak, as indicated by both institutional documentation and the work’s Wikidata record.
It entered the Bavarian State Painting Collections and has been held in the Alte Pinakothek since at least the time of that institution’s records.
The painting Saints Stephen and Maurice by Anton Woensam is held by the Bavarian State Painting Collections. It is located within the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The work was created in 1520 and is executed on an oak panel.
Specific inventory details or accession numbers are not provided in the available sources. Furthermore, the provided documentation does not list any exhibition history for this artwork.
Overview
Created in 1520, the oak panel painting Saints Stephen and Maurice presents two standing figures in an outdoor setting. The work is attributed to Anton Woensam, a German artist known for both painting and wood engraving during the early sixteenth century. It is part of the collection of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Subject & Meaning
The composition features Saint Stephen, identifiable by his red robe trimmed in gold, a book, and a palm branch, alongside Saint Maurice, clad in green and gold armor with a red hat and holding a spear. Their juxtaposition reflects the traditional pairing of a martyr and a military saint, emphasizing themes of faith and steadfastness.
Artist & collection
Artist
Anton Woensam (c.1493/1496 – c.1541) was a German painter and wood-engraver. Woensam was "probably" trained by his father Jaspar as a painter. He mainly created book illustrations. He relocated from Worms to Cologne in…
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