The Painter

<p>Jan Saenredam frequently engraved the designs of other artists, especially Hendrick Goltzius and Abraham Bloemaert. <em>The Painter</em> offers an allegory of artistic inspiration based on the story that Saint Luke (the patron saint of painters) depicted the Virgin Mary from a vision. Dirk Vellert’s version of this scene epitomizes that iconography. Here, Mary becomes a nude Venus accompanied by a mirror-wielding Cupid, but the tone of the image remains reverential to the art form. Even the saint’s glasses, frequently used in this period to denote fools, lack any satirical sting.</p>