The Temptation of Christ

c. 1500/1505

Master LCz

Associated Names
Master LCz

Artist, German, active c. 1480/1505

This is a print showing a robed man encountering a demonic creature in a detailed landscape. The man is on the left, facing the demonic creature on the right. The man has pale skin, long, curling hair, a short beard, a straight nose, and pronounced cheekbones. He wears a draping cloth garment with only his hands visible. The demonic creature has horns, wings, large ears, the feet of a bird, a long tail, and sharp spines on its nose and chin. On its body are the faces of animals, like a bird, a lion, and a wolf. In the background, there is a forest to the left and a rocky hill on the right. Between them is a city or castle in the distance, surrounded by hills and cliffs. The ground below the man and creature is covered with grass and rocks, and the sky above is blank.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 22.7 x 16.5 cm (8 15/16 x 6 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.9082

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Lehrs, Vol. 6, p.326, no. 2

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Sternberg-Manderscheid Collection, Prague; Friedrich August II, King of Saxony [1797-1854], Dresden (Lugt 971); (Charles Sessler, Philadelphia); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1929; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1933

  • A Century of Progress, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933, no. 30, repro.

1941

  • The First Century of Printmaking 1400-1500, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1941, no. 103, repro.

1943

  • Selections from the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1943-1944, pp. 22-23, repro.

1945

  • Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, IN, 1945, no. 13.

1956

  • Selected Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, City Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, 1956.

1965

  • Master Prints from the Rosenwald Collection, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1965, no. 24.

  • Drolleries and Demons: Six Centuries of 'Fantastic' Prints, IBM Gallery, New York, NY, 1965, no. 9.

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 125, repro.

1971

  • Albrecht Dürer: The Early Graphic Works, Princeton University Art Museum, NJ, 1971, no. 20, repro.

1974

  • Europe in Torment: 1450-1550, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 1974, no. 3, repro.

1979

  • Early German Drawings & Prints: Two Recent Acquisitions and Related Works, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1979, no. 18.

1982

  • Lessing J. Rosenwald: Tribute to a Collector, NGA, 1982, no. 33, repro.

2000

  • The Fantastic in Renaissance Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2000.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 125.

1982

  • Fine, Ruth E. Lessing J. Rosenwald: Tribute to a Collector. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1982, no. 33.

1996

  • Hults, Linda C. The Print in the Western World. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996, 53, 58-61, 92; fig.1.42, 60.

Inscriptions

lower center in plate artist's monogram: L / CZS

Wikidata ID

Q65023817

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