Lucas van LEYDEN (Lucas HUGENSZOON).1494-1533

Ecce homo.1510

Etching and burin; mm. 288x456. small margins. Below on the right: “Martini Petri excude insigni aurei fontis prope novam borsam” and monogram L on the rock. Watermark with crowned device and letter B insiede. Fine specimen.

Beautiful engraving by Lucas Van Leyden, precocious engraver and creator of prints, etchings and woodcuts.Technically it is one of his greatest graphic successes. Van Leyden sets the scene in the midst of a large architectural complex of palaces and towers that flank an elevated square that serves as a stage. A turbulent crowd gathers while Pontius Pilate invites them to determine the destiny of Christ. As Pontius Pilate proclaims, "Ecce homo" (Here is the man), people gathered at the windows and parapets of the surrounding buildings look impassive. Details of courtesan and military costume, Dutch Renaissance architecture and mountainous landscape invite our eyes to wander through this microcosm.Stepanek 1983; Bartsch 71, New Hollstein 71; Volbehr 66.