Curator

  • Art Institute Chicago
  • Harvard art museum
  • My Exhibition
A work made of woodcut in black on ivory laid paper.

Saint Paul, from The Martyrdom of the Apostles

c. 1512

Lucas Cranach the Elder German, 1472-1553

Germany

Lucas Cranach’s depiction of the martyrdom of Saint Matthew gruesomely displays his decapitated head bouncing away from his body, which is still bleeding. This single-sheet impression dates from the first printing of the series in 1512. These woodblocks were later reused in a 1548 printing of The Apostles Creed, which also included tamer views of saints’ enshrined remains from Cranach’s 1509 Reliquary Book.

Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper

Prints and Drawings