1475
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
St. John the Baptist is a 1475 by Martin Schongauer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a thin, bearded man in a rough camel-skin robe holding a book with a lamb on top. His hair curls in tight spirals. This is Saint John the Baptist, but it’s not a painting—it’s an engraving. The artist used fine lines to make the fur look scratchy and the hair look springy. It’s one of the first times someone tried to show different textures this way. Look up *sfumato* next to see how other artists softened edges instead of carving them sharp.
Martin Schongauer was among the first artists to work extensively in engraving to create series such as the one depicting the saints. Here, he represented Saint John the Baptist as a thin ascetic man holding a book at the top of which is the Lamb of God. Schongauer's engraved lines inventively emulate different natural qualities and textures, for example the camel fur of John's robe and the spiraling locks of his hair.
In his gospel, Saint John identifies Christ as the "Lamb of God," and so the saint is often portrayed holding a lamb with a cruciform staff, symbolizing Christ victorious over death.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Martin Schongauer, also known as Martin Schön or Hübsch Martin by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter.
See the richer artist page
