The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Christ the Redeemer (Salvator Mundi)

c. 1490–1500

Israhel van Meckenem

(German, c. 1440–1503)
Germany
engraving
Image: 20.3 x 14.3 cm (8 x 5 5/8 in.); Sheet: 20.3 x 14.3 cm (8 x 5 5/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1949.563
Catalogue raisonné: Lehrs IX.172.161
Location: Not on view

Description

Trained as a goldsmith, Meckenem displayed the decorative potential of his art by engraving a glimmering burst of sword-like rays around Christ’s head and a variety of patterns on Christ’s robe, his jeweled sash, and the tapestries draping the gothic pulpit. The presentation of Christ within ecclesiastic architecture symbolically connects Christ’s authority as Salvator Mundi—Savior of the World—with the Church.
  • "New in the Galleries.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 57, no. 3 (May/June 2017): Back cover. Reproduced and Mentioned: Back cover archive.org
  • Art of Enterprise: Israhel van Meckenem’s 15th-Century Print Workshop. Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI (organizer) (December 18, 2023-March 24, 2024) https://chazen.wisc.edu/exhibitions/art-of-enterprise-israhel-van-meckenems-15th-century-print-workshop/.
    Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 2-August 2, 1987).
    35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).
  • {{cite web|title=Christ the Redeemer (Salvator Mundi)|url=false|author=Israhel van Meckenem|year=c. 1490–1500|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.563