Saint Luke Painting the Virgin - Anton Wierix

Gift of Langdon Pearse

"Saint Luke Painting the Virgin" by Anton Wierix (c. 1580-90) Engraving in black on off-white laid paper.

Commentary

"Saint Luke Painting the Virgin" by Anton Wierix (c. 1580-90) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do most of the expressive w ork. Themes to notice include engraving. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Anton Wierix is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Anton Wierix II (Flemish, 1555-1604) after Quentin Matsys (Netherlandish, 1466-1530). The work is cataloged within a Flanders cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as engraving, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Engraving in black on off-white laid paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Plate: 22.4 × 29.1 cm (8 7/8 × 11 1/2 in.); Sheet: 22.8 × 29.5 cm (9 × 11 5/8 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include engraving. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/80188

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data