Description:Schongauer has created the beautiful and chaste Saint Agnes in this exquisite engraving. Finely detailed and executed with acute precision, the work is able to convey Agnes's inner spirituality and peace. As a figure of the Roman Catholic tradition, Saint Agnes was condemned to death at age 12 by the Romans in 304 B.C.E. She was later canonized when her sentence was preceded by a string of events, including the miraculous growth of her hair which extended the length of her body. She is often a symbol of chastity and a role model for young girls and depicted with a lamb at her side.
This work features Martin Schongauer's signature 'M + S' monogrammed initials in the lower center of the work. This is a rare, lifetime impression featuring the Bull's Head Watermark (M. 79; Br. 15162-5) dating the piece to c. 1475. Printed on a finely laid paper, the sheet features wide margins and a visible plate mark.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work) :
1. Martin Schongauer: Maitre de la gravure rhenane, vers 1450 - 1491, Musée du Petit Palais: Paris, 1991. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 89 on pg. 257.
2. Strauss, Walter L. (ed.) The Intaglio Prints of Albrecht Dürer: Engravings, Etchings, and Drypoints, Abaris Books: New York, 1981. Watermark listed and illustrated in the appendix as M. 79; Br. 15162-5 on pg. 320.
About the Framing:
Conservation framed with archival materials and museum quality, this work is float mounted on archival white linen in an elegant Spanish-style gold and black frame. The delicately sculpted floral detailing in the frame enhances Schongauer's ability to maneuver the etched line throughout the composition. Completed with white, linen-wrapped mats and a matching gold inner fillet, this work is set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.
