St Philip, from the series: Christ, Paul and the Twelve Apostles

Born in the city of Leiden, Lucas van Leyden was the first Dutch engraver to achieve wide acclaim in his lifetime. He made about 200 prints, mostly engravings, but also woodcuts and a few etchings. He met Albrecht Dürer in 1521 during the German artist's year-long visit to the Netherlands, and Dürer drew Lucas's portraits and bought a set of his prints. It is likely that Lucas simultanously acquired some of Dürer's prints, as his influence is evident in van Leyden's work in the early 1520s.

This print, the tenth in a series of 14, dates from much earlier. Lucas was a child prodigy artist, and this impressive series, made when he was just 16, shows no signs of immaturity. In 1845, the pioneering Anglo-Irish art historian and iconographer Anna Jameson described it as 'magnificent in point of feeling'. This engraving depicts the apostle St Philip who, according to later Christian traditions, preached in present-day Greece, Syria and Turkey. He carries the Latin (long armed) Cross, his customary symbol. 

See: David Maskill, 'Lucas van Leyden 1494-1533 Netherlands', in William McAloon (ed.), Art at Te Papa (Wellington, 2009), p. 26.

Dr Mark Stocker               Curator, Historical International Art                January 2017