Executed entirely with long, fine contour lines, this drawing shows Saint Luke in his double role as painter and evangelist. He is depicted writing his gospel, but at his right we see an icon of the Madonna and Child that is also by his hand. The bull that symbolizes him appears to be observing the scene from his left.
This drawing resembles contour-print reproductions of paintings that were widespread in Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century. It could therefore be considered a preparatory drawing for a print employing that technique.

Jens Hoffmann-Samland

Details about this work

• Provenance

  [José Atanasio Echeverría]; Julian Benjamin Williams, Seville (d. 1866); John Wetherell (?) (d. 1865); Horatio/Nathan Wetherell (?) (until 1874); Frederick William Cosens, London (from 1874 to 1890); Sotheby's, London, auction of the property of Frederick William Cosens (from November 11 to 21, 1890); Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London (from November 1890 to July 1891); acquired by the Hamburger Kunsthalle (July 14, 1891).

• Bibliography

  The Spanish Gesture. Drawings from Murillo to Goya in the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Jens Hoffmann-Samland, with contributions by María Cruz de Carlos Varona, Gabriele Finaldi, José Manuel Matilla u. a., 2014, S. 198, Abb., Abb.-Nr. , Kat.-Nr. 38