id: 128806 accession number: 1951.429 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.429 updated: 2023-03-08 14:59:21.112000 A Censer, c. 1480–90. Martin Schongauer (German, c.1450–1491). Engraving; sheet: 26.4 x 21 cm (10 3/8 x 8 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1951.429 title: A Censer title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1480–90 creation date earliest: 1480 creation date latest: 1490 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Germany, 15th century technique: engraving department: Prints collection: PR - Engraving type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Lehrs V.359.106 --- CREATORS * Martin Schongauer (German, c.1450–1491) - artist Martin Schongauer (ca. 1450-53, Colmar - 2 February 1491, Breisach) was one of the most skilled and influential graphic artists of Europe in the last quarter of the 15h century. Trained both as an engraver and as a painter, Schongauer started his apprenticeship under his father Caspar Schongauer, a goldsmith from Augsburg. In 1465, he matriculated at the University of Leipzig. After one year, he left his studies, and came back to Colmar. There, he was trained under the painter Caspar Isenmann, between 1466 and 1469. Schongauer later traveled down to the Rhine, Cologne, Burgundy, the Netherlands, and he likely visited Spain. In 1489, he became a citizen of Breisach, where he died probably of the plague in 1491. Only a few of Schongauer's paintings survive. Among these is the Madonna in the Rose Garden for the Church of Saint Martin in Colmar (1473), which betrays Schongauer's admiration for the works by the Netherlandish painter Roger Van der Weyden. The bulk of Schongauer's engravings is more conspicuous: 116 prints, none of them dated, but all marked by his monogram M+S. Characterized by exquisite cross-hatching and impeccable craftsmanship, Schongauer's engravings were widely imitated by the German printmakers Ishrael van Meckenem and Albrecht Durer, as well as by Italian artists, such as Cristoforo Robetta and Nicoletto da Modena. --- measurements: Sheet: 26.4 x 21 cm (10 3/8 x 8 1/4 in.) state of the work: I/I edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints opening date: 1987-06-02T04:00:00 Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 2-August 2, 1987). title: Design and Decoration: Ornament Prints opening date: 1990-08-07T04:00:00 Design and Decoration: Ornament Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 7-October 28, 1990). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: The vine-like ornament that covers the openwork areas of this censer suggests a Christological metaphor of the grapes made into the Eucharist wine. digital description: Censers are liturgical containers swung back and forth on long chains to disperse incense during the celebration of the mass. In this print, Martin Schongauer exploited his early training as a goldsmith to create a detailed reproduction of a life-size censer. The exquisite filigree design of the openwork areas, and the minute figurines of angels holding chains that crumple on the ground and cast slight shadows suggest that Schongauer's Censer could have been a close replica of an existing censer, or a model for a goldsmith. wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.429/1951.429_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.429/1951.429_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.429/1951.429_full.tif