Mohammed and the Monk Sergius
by LEYDEN, Lucas van, Engraving, 289 x 216 mm
Lucas van Leyden’s prints are soft and silvery, with subtle shading creating a remarkably painterly quality that differs from the hard lines and schematic techniques of other engravings, including D�rer’s. It is not only technique and style that distinguish the prints of Lucas from others, however. His range of thematic materials was vastly different from that of D�rer or the Italians, his choice of narrative moment is original, and often puzzling.
His first dated print, the Mohammed and the Monk Sergius, has an unusual subject which has yet to be explained adequately.