Saint Francis Kneeling in a Grotto, holding a Book and a Skull

1627 or before

Not on view

This image of Saint Francis of Assisi is a design for the opening page (half-title) of Jean Puget de la Serre’s 1627 devotional book Les douces pensées de la mort—the title appearing on the open pages of the volume held by the kneeling saint.[1] Les douces pensées de la mort, a meditation on death as the emancipation of the soul from worldly concerns and suffering, invokes Saint Francis twice: briefly in Chapter One and at greater length in Chapter Two, where he is praised for his devotion to Christ and where the ecstasy that followed his stigmatization is equated with death. The book is the first of several by Puget de la Serre for which Van der Horst designed illustrations, many of them, like the present example, engraved by Cornelis Galle I (1576-1650).[2]

The image was also reproduced in another engraving, signed “C. Galle,” in the same orientation as the drawing and bearing, in place of the title of Puget de la Serre’s book, a phrase in Latin derived from Galatians 6: “absit mihi gloriari nihi in crvce domini nostril iesv Christi.” There is an impression in the Graphic Art Collection of Göttweig Abbey in Austria.

(JSS, 8/23/2018)

[1] Jean Puget de la Serre, Les douces pensées de la mort (Brussels: 1627). A copy of this original edition with the intact half-title is in the library of Ghent University (https://lib.ugent.be/catalog/bkt01:000403207).

[2] Véronique Meyer, “Un auteur du XVIIe siècle et l’illustration de ses livres: Jean Puget de la Serre (1595-1665),” in Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes 158, no. 1 (Jan-June 2000), pp. 35-38.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Saint Francis Kneeling in a Grotto, holding a Book and a Skull
Artist: Nicolaas van der Horst (Flemish, Antwerp 1587/98–1646 Brussels)
Date: 1627 or before
Medium: Pen and brown ink, brown washes; incised for transfer
Dimensions: 4 15/16 × 3 7/16 in. (12.5 × 8.8 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of J. William Middendorf II, in memory of Walter Liedtke, 2015
Object Number: 2015.781
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Nicolaas van der Horst

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

The Last Supper, Nicolaas van der Horst Flemish, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown washes, over black chalk; incised; rubbed with black chalk for transfer; fragment of sheet with Christ and five apostles behind him cut out, backed, and redrawn by the artist — The Last Supper
Nicolaas van der Horst
early to mid-17th century

Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume, Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, Black, red, and white chalk, blue pastel, and pen and brown and black ink on light brown laid paper — Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume
Peter Paul Rubens
1617

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland, Thomas Girtin British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) — Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland
Thomas Girtin
1796–97

Cottage among Trees, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, on paper washed with brown — Cottage among Trees
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
ca. 1650

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.