Scenes from the Life of St. John the Baptist

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Scenes from the Life of St. John the Baptist

Artist Frans Crabbe van Espleghem (Flemish, ca. 1480-1553)

Dateabout 1522

Dimensions10 5/8 x 14 15/16 in. (27 x 38 cm)

Mediumwoodcut

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineWilliam J. Hitchcock fund in Memory of Grace J. Hitchcock

Object number

1990.28

Not on View

Label TextPrints and drawings by Frans Crabbe are exceedingly rare. Representing three episodes from the life of St. John the Baptist, this is the only woodcut attributed to the artist and is one of only six impressions known to exist. A contemporary of Lucas van Leyden in Holland, Crabbe’s work has been compared to the German, Hans Baldung (also in this exhibition). Although the large horizontal format is unusual, this print is perhaps one of the three or four best prints to represent Dutch 16th-century woodblock printing, which was rather crude in comparison to German examples of the same period.Published ReferencesHollstein F.W.H. Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700, vol. V, Amsterdam, 1952, p. 95, no. 53. cf. Jacobowitz, Ellen S. and Stephanie Loeb Stepanek, The Prints of Lucas van Leyden & His Contemporaries, Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, 1983, pp. 283-284 (illus.), cat no. 118.Exhibition HistoryThe Passion and the Apocalypse: Albrecht Dürer's Renaissance, Oct 1,04 - Jan 2,05