Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

Lucas Vorsterman I

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Having realized the potential profits to be made from reproductive engravings of his work, Rubens began to engage young printmakers from 1619 onward. Lucas Vorsterman, who had been practicing as an engraver from the age of twelve, was the first engraver to work for Rubens. In 1621, Vorsterman made this engraving, showing Rubens's painting of the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, which at the time was hanging in the Notre-Dame de la Chapelle in Brussels (now Alte Pinakothek, Munich). The engraving displays the painting in reverse. One of Rubens's assistants (possibly Anthony van Dyck) made the preparatory drawing for the print (see 61.88). The spectacular variations in light and dark tones, as well as the perfect mastering of the burin, make this one of Vorsterman's best prints. Rubens dedicated this print to the Antwerp humanist and namesake of the saint, Laurentius Beyerlink.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Martyrdom of Saint LawrenceMartyrdom of Saint LawrenceMartyrdom of Saint LawrenceMartyrdom of Saint LawrenceMartyrdom of Saint Lawrence

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.