Mohammed and the Monk Sergius
Lucas van Leyden Netherlandish
Not on view
The subject of this print is a rarely illustrated episode from the popular medieval book The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. One night, while Mohammed, the monk's student, was asleep, his men killed the hermit with Mohammed's own sword and put it back into
its sheath. As Mohammed awoke, they persuaded him that he was the killer. Master storyteller Lucas van Leyden takes great delight in describing every detail, from the Mohammed's distinctive clothing to individual leaves on the tree in the middle ground and further to the castles in the background.
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