Saint Christopher
1509
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1509
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Saint Christopher is a 1509 by Lucas Cranach the Elder, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows Saint Christopher. He's standing in a landscape, carrying a child on his shoulder. The interesting thing about this work is that it uses a combination of printed and washed colors, which was a new technique at the time, and it's also one of the earliest examples of a color woodcut. The artist was experimenting with different ways to add color to his prints. This led to some unique effects, like the subtle shading on Saint Christopher's face. You can learn more about this style by looking into the technique of chiaroscuro.
