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Artwork Page for St. John with Serpent in Chalice

Details / Information for St. John with Serpent in Chalice

St. John with Serpent in Chalice

c. 1480–1500
(German, c. 1440–1503)
(German, c. 1465–1524)
Germany
engraving
Sheet: 20.3 x 10 cm (8 x 3 15/16 in.)
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1925.991
Catalogue raisonné: Lehrs IX.241.286
State: only state
Location: not on view
Public Domain
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Description

According to legend, John the Evangelist was given a cup of poisoned wine that he drank without harm. As emblems of the tale, John’s chalice symbolizes the Christian faith prevailing over death, signified by the serpent. As a print, Meckenem's representation of Saint John like a sculpture in an architectural niche made it possible for more people to personally own a religious image that they might otherwise only have seen at a church.
Print in black ink of Saint John, a man with a light skin tone, wavy shoulder length hair, and the half-circle of a halo over his head. Shaded with fine, even hash marks, and draped in heavily folded robes, he stands within an architectural niche. Facing and looking slightly to our left, lips pinched together, he points with his right hand to a chalice he holds in his left hand from which a serpent emerges.

St. John with Serpent in Chalice

c. 1480–1500

Israhel van Meckenem, Hans Holbein

(German, c. 1440–1503), (German, c. 1465–1524)
Germany

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