Leonhard Beck’s woodcut, “St. Lucius”, 1510

Leonhard Beck (1475/80–1542)

“St. Lucius” (aka “Pope Lucius I”), 1510, plate 71 from the series of woodcuts after the designs of Hans Burgkmair the Elder (1473–1531), “Images De Saints Et Saintes Issus De La Famille De L'Empereur Maximilien I. - En une Suite de cent dix neuf planches gravées en bois par differens graveurs d'après les dessins de Hans Burgmaier.” (see https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/book/images-de-saints-et-saintes-issus-de-la-famille-de-lempereur-maximilien-i), plate cut by Nicolas Seemann ((fl.1510–1517) and published in “Saints Connected with the House of Hapsburg: A General Account of the Ancestry of Emperor Maximilian I”.

This impression is from the later edition printed by Anna Alberti (fl.1794-1802) and published by Franz Xaver Stöckl (1763–1815) in Vienna in 1799 using the original woodblocks (see Virtuelles Kupferstichkabinett: http://diglib.hab.de?grafik=xd-2f-100-00070). The Annex Galleries advises that this edition “was printed in 1799 for the family of the Emperor Maximilian I by Chez La Veuve Alberti, the widow of the printer Ignaz Alberti and published by F.X. Stockl, Marchand D'Estamps in Vienna” (https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory/detail/17678).

Woodcut on laid paper with wide margins and stitch binding holes on left.

Size: (sheet) 41.5 x 29 cm; (image borderline) 23.7 x 21cm.

Numbered above the image borderline: (right) “71”.

New Hollstein (Leonhard Beck) 68 (Guido Messling [comp.] 2007, “The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450–1700: Leonhard Beck”, Part I, Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel, Sound and Vision, p. 18, cat. no. 68).

For those unfamiliar with St. Lucius, I recommend reading the account offered by the Kulturstrøget website: https://web.archive.org/web/20150924092105/http://www.roskildekommune.dk/webtop/site.aspx?p=21421. Regarding the image shown in the woodcut, I believe—and I may be very wrong—that the building shown in the distance may be Roskilde Cathedral, as I understand that St. Lucius is its patron saint. The devil-like figure on the collapasing column may be a reference to the “vile demon” who interrupted the journey of the priests entrusted to bring the skiull relic of the saint to the cathedral by “demanding human sacrifice.” Fortunately, the priest holding the saint’s skull washed it and the demon disappeared into the sea after letting out a “sickening yell.”

Condition: a richly inked and superbly printed impression with generously wide margins in excellent condition with no tears, holes (beyond the stitch binding holes on the left edge), creases, abrasions, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this large and superb woodcut, printed from the original 1510 plate in the later (1799) Franz Xaver Stöckl edition, for the total cost of AU$263 (currently US$198.91/EUR166.75/GBP143.37 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this startlingly fine woodcut showing St. Lucius dismissing a demon falling from a breaking column, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.