1. Israhel van Meckenem
(ca. 1445-1503)

Christ Shown to the People (Ecce Homo)

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van Meckenem, Ecce Homo

Christ Shown to the People (Ecce Homo)

Engraving, 1480s, from The Passion, 210 x 145 mm., Bartsch16, Lehrs 148 iii/v, Hollstein 148 iii-iv/v. Fine impression before the scrolls at the letter M and the shading on the garden wall, on laid paper with the watermark of a Dog (Briquet 3636, dated Siegen 1486 and Strasburg 1488), trimmed along the borderline, which is visible almost all the way around; slight surface dirt and one or two pinholes. The composition is original with Meckenem and does not derive from Schongauer. In the secondary scene, in the background, Pilate (who is, of course, also present on the platform) confers with his wife, who (Matthew 27:19) advises him not to help Jesus as she had been troubled by dreams of him. The tied monkey in the foreground is a reference to man's sinfulness.