Artwork
Benjamin
Benjamin is an ink print by the Renaissance artist Jan Sadeler I. It dates from 1585 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:upper center in plate: BENJAMIN; lower center in plate: .12.; in margin below image, in plate: Sum natu minimus Beniaminus ex Cananea. / Mater in enixu est morte perempta meo. / Me scripture Lupu[m] natu[m] consumere praeda[m] / In matutino tempore uera uocat. (I, Benjamin, am the youngest, born of a Canaanite woman who died giving me birth. The scriptures justly call me a wolf born to devour its prey in the morning. [translation from Veldman, Ilja M., and H. J. de Jonge, "The sons of Jacob: the twelve patriarchs in sixteenth-century Netherlandish prints and popular literature," Simiolus, vol. 15 (1985), no. 3, p. 196.])
About this work
Overview
Benjamin is a hand-colored engraving on laid paper created by Jan Sadeler I around 1585.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts a young man in a field, wearing a purple cloak and orange skirt, holding a scroll and pointing. Two sheep and a deer are nearby, with a small hut in the background. The scene appears to be drawn from a narrative, with the figure's identity indicated by the name 'Benjamin' at the top.
Technique & Style
The engraving is built up from lines that give the image texture. The artist has used hand-coloring to add soft, bright hues to the scene, including greens and a clear sky.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
