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Overview
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 Lucas's work in the early 1520s.
This print, the sixth 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'. Each figure is depicted isolated against a plain background and with his attributes. St James the Greater is identified by his attribute of the pilgrim's staff. According to legend, his remains are held in Santiago de Compostella, in Galicia, Spain. The traditional pilgrimage to his grave has been the most popular for Western European Catholics since the Early Middle Ages. This print predates the Reformation by almost a decade.
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