Christ Among the Doctors (1490–1500): Artwork and History

Christ Among the Doctors (1490–1500) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Israhel van Meckenem the Younger German, c. 1440/45-1503.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Israhel van Meckenem depicted the 12-year old Christ’s spirited discussions with learned doctors and priests in the temple at Jerusalem. In three short days, Christ assimilated and surpassed their knowledge of scripture, and in this print he lectures his rapt audience from a book on the podium beside his magisterial throne. The construction of the throne is similar to the heavenly one in Martin Schongauer’s Christ Blessing the Virgin (1956.864).

Object facts

• Title: Christ Among the Doctors
• Date: 1490–1500
• Artist attribution: Israhel van Meckenem the Younger German, c. 1440/45-1503
• Place of origin: Germany
• Medium: Engraving on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 26 × 18.4 cm (10 1/4 × 7 1/4 in.); Sheet trimmed within platemark: 26.6 × 18.4 cm (10 1/2 × 7 1/4 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1956.823

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.