The Censer

Martin Schongauer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Although trained and active as a painter, Martin Schongauer’s engravings are undoubtedly his most important contribution to the history of art. The larger part of his oeuvre consists of religious subjects, but he also focused on genre scenes, animal portraits, heraldry, and, from time to time, ornament and design. The Crozier (bishop’s staff) and The Censer are two of his masterpieces in this area, and remind us of his family’s involvement in the field of goldsmith’s work. The Censer, in particular, is celebrated for its vivid three-dimensional rendition, displayed for example in the magnificent draping of the chains on the left side of the print. The life-like qualities of the object have led some to suggest that Schongauer might have been working after an existing censer, rather than trusting a new idea to paper. Such a model has not survived, however, and we cannot exclude the idea that we are here misled by Schongauer’s mastery as a draftsman and printmaker.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art