1515
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
The Triumph of Mordecai is a 1515 ink by Lucas van Leyden, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This engraving shows a crowded scene of people dressed in old-fashioned armor and robes. Some stand tall, holding weapons like swords and spears, while others kneel or crouch on the ground. The background has a building and a distant landscape, but the focus is on the mix of angry and serious faces in the crowd. Notice how the artist used fine lines to create shadows and texture—this is called cross-hatching. The details in the clothing and expressions make the scene feel busy and full of drama. Try looking up cross-hatching to see how artists build depth with just lines.
Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very accomplished engraver.
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