1490
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
St. John with Serpent in Chalice is a 1490 by Israhel van Meckenem, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see Saint John holding a golden cup with a snake slithering out of it. The scene is carved like stone inside a fancy archway. This is a print, not a painting. Prints were new back then—cheap enough for regular people to hang in their homes. The snake stands for poison, but John stays calm, showing faith wins. The artist made it look like a sculpture to make the holy image feel solid and real. To see more prints like this, look up Israhel van Meckenem (German, c. 1440–1503).
According to legend, John the Evangelist was given a cup of poisoned wine that he drank without harm. As emblems of the tale, John’s chalice symbolizes the Christian faith prevailing over death, signified by the serpent. As a print, Meckenem's representation of Saint John like a sculpture in an architectural niche made it possible for more people to personally own a religious image that they might otherwise only have seen at a church.
Saint John was an especially popular saint throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern era because his devotion to Christ set an example for all good Christians.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Israhel van Meckenem (c. 1445 – 10 November 1503), also known as Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, was a German printmaker and goldsmith, perhaps of a Dutch family origin. He was the most prolific engraver of the…
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