(1484-1545)
German
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Hans Baldung Grien The Conversion of Saint Paul woodcut c. 1515/16 293 x 190 mm. 11 x 7in. Reference: Hollstein 125, only state Saul, an officer in the Roman Legion, participated enthusiastically in the persecution of Christians. He is shown here on the road to Damascus on a mission to destroy a small Christian community. Blinded by "a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun," he is thrown from his horse, instantly converts, and becomes a missionary who when later martyred is called Saint Paul. (Acts 26:13-14) The angst of twentieth century German Expressionism is presaged in this sixteenth century woodcut - in the physical press of human and animal figures, in the unstable strain of diagonal versus horizontal line, in the contortion, agitation, and frenzy. Baldung developed his own unmistakable style despite the powerful influence of his great master, Albrecht Dürer. Alan Shestack describes the extent to which Baldung became a highly important artist in his own right (Hans Baldung Grien, Yale University, 1981, pp. 3-18); also, Heinrich Wölfflin's The Sense of Form in Art (New York, 1958, translated from Italien und das deutsche Formegefühl, Munich, 1931) refers to Baldung more than any other artist in support of the author's thesis regarding the "Germanness" of German art. |
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Hans Baldung Grien Saint Martin on Horseback woodcut 15th century AD Reference: Hollstein 124 ii/iii |
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