Artwork Page for St. Matthias

Details / Information for St. Matthias

St. Matthias

1623–30

Ludolph Büsinck

(German, 1590–1669)
Culture
Germany
Medium
chiaroscuro woodcut
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Zinser 1966.733
Catalogue raisonné
Hollstein V.180.12
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Büsinck was a leading German master of the chiaroscuro woodcut and one of only a few artists working in this medium in the 17th century. He introduced chiaroscuros to France, and almost his entire output, executed between 1623 and 1630 in Paris, appears to be based on the drawings of the painter George Lallemand. Lallemand had special presses constructed to mass-produce Büsinck's prints, the only mid 17th-century workshop in France devoted to the production of chiaroscuros.
A vertically oriented print in tan and black ink depicts Saint Matthias, a man with light skin, curly hair, and a thick beard. Shaded with bold hatched lines and white highlights, he is draped in heavily folded robes and bows his head. Facing and looking to our right with a furrowed brow, he holds an axe while pointing to an open book. A halo sits behind him, and another book rests below.

St. Matthias

1623–30

Ludolph Büsinck

(German, 1590–1669)
Germany

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