c 1460 Meister der Berliner Passion - Lamentation of Christ - Copper engraving

Description

Attributed to the "Meister der Berliner Passion" from his Kleine Passion
Lamentation of Christ
6.9 x 4.8 cm
ca 1460
Copper engraving bordered on all sides and completed in a contemporary hand. Collector's initials WD lightly stamped to verso. Light vertical crease.
On very thin fine paper. Minor use of colour.
The Master of the Berlin Passion, generally accepted to be Israhel van Meckenem the Elder, lived and worked in Bocholt, in what is now northwest Germany. A goldsmith by trade, his son--Israhel van Meckenem--also trained as a goldsmith and ultimately eclipsed his father as a printmaker as well.
Most of van Meckenem the Elder's prints are of a small format, suggesting that they were to be pasted into books as substitutes for miniature paintings. Lehrs pp. 63-76; Hollstein pp. 79-113.
This plate Lehrs, the series of the Life of Christ: "Die Beweinung Christus" 62.45.a
This engraving would appear to have been part of a group of small religious engravings, struck specifically for inclusion in illustrated para-liturgical manuscripts, hence the added manuscript borders where it would have been laid down and are here expertly replaced.
Copper engraving bordered on all sides and completed in a contemporary hand. Collector's initials WD lightly stamped to verso. Light vertical crease. The Master of the Berlin Passion, generally accepted to be Israhel van Meckenem the Elder, lived and worked in Bocholt, in what is now northwest Germany. A goldsmith by trade, his son--Israhel van Meckenem--also trained as a goldsmith and ultimately eclipsed his father as a printmaker as well. Most of van Meckenem the Elder's prints are of a small format, suggesting that they were to be pasted into books as substitutes for miniature paintings. Lehrs pp. 63-76; Hollstein pp. 79-113. This engraving would appear to have been part of a group of small religious engravings, struck specifically for inclusion in illustrated para-liturgical manuscript