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Saint John the Evangelist

ca. 1480
Not on view
According to the Golden Legend, the idolatrous priest Aristodemus challenged John the
Evangelist:
“I will give you poison to drink. If it does you no harm, it will be clear that
your master is the true God.’...The apostle took the cup, armed himself with the sign of
the cross, drained the drink, and suffered no harm; and all present began to praise God.”
Christ’s favorite disciple is seated here in a Gothic chair, his right hand blessing the cup of poison. The drawing presents a figure type found in paintings of the Upper Rhine. Trimmed to form a rectangle, the originally round sheet was probably used as a design for a stained glass roundel.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Saint John the Evangelist
  • Artist: Upper Rhine (Switzerland)
  • Date: ca. 1480
  • Culture: Upper Rhine (Switzerland)
  • Medium: Pen and blackish brown ink and gray wash over a black chalk underdrawing (still partially visible in the foliate forms of the throne at the upper right), the thin, pale lines of the preliminary ink drawing clearly distinguishable from the thicker, darker ones on top of them, which have dense, felt-like accumulations of tiny strokes in some of the shadows, but are by the same hand; traces of a curved line in black chalk and partly in brush and gray ink in the lower corners and at the upper right.
  • Dimensions: 10 7/16 x 6 5/8 in. (26.5 x 16.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.851
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

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Adoration of the Magi, Cartapesta (papier maché) with polychromy and gilding, German
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Christ Brought Before Pontius Pilate, Anonymous, Spanish, School of Seville, 17th century Spanish, Pen and light brown ink, brush and light brown wash, reinforced with pen and dark brown ink, highlighted with white gouache (oxidized) on figure of Pilate and throne, over traces of black chalk underdrawing. Lower border of composition outlined with pen and dark brown ink. On off-white paper
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17th century
A Swiss Guard, Federico Zuccaro (Zuccari) Italian, Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over extensive black chalk underdrawing; squared in black chalk.
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Study for the Crucifixion, Benjamin West American, Brown ink applied by brush and pen, black chalk underdrawing; laid paper prepared with a light golden brown wash, American
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The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist, Bartolomeo di Giovanni Italian, Pen and light and dark brown ink, brush and brown wash, heightened with white, over black chalk underdrawing.
The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist
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