St. Martin (1485–90): Art, History and Details

St. Martin (1485–90) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1450–1491).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Martin Schongauer was among the first artists to work extensively in engraving to create series such as the one depicting the saints. Here, Schongauer portrayed Saint Martin as a handsome youth with curly hair, in the midst of dividing his fur-lined cloak to share with a beggar seated at his feet. According to the legend on the life of Saint Martin, after sharing his cloak with the man, Martin later discovered in a dream that he had actually shared his mantle with Christ. Soon after, Martin was baptized and became the Bishop of Tours.

Object facts

• Title: St. Martin
• Date: 1485–90
• Creator attribution: Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1450–1491)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1924.509

A detail from the museum

Saint Martin was often represented as a knight on a horse; here, Schongauer alluded to the steed by placing a pair of spurs on Martin's boots.

Collection credit

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Accessions" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 11, no. 6 (June 1924): 133-134

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.