Germany, 18th century / 1747–48
Saint Deicolus and the Boar
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Saint Deicolus and the Boar as drawing (Germany, 18th century · 1747–48).
The rarely depicted St. Deicolus was an Irish monk who lived in the 600s and was known for his retreat to a hermitage in a forest.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this drawing as pen and brown and gray inks and brush and gray wash heightened with white gouache; incised, verso coated with red chalk and credits Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner (German, 1712–1761).
The museum's collection notes: German artist Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner's innovations in rococo design are magnificently demonstrated in this sheet showing the story of Saint Deicolus and the Boar. The format of the work imitates that of a decorative cartouche, an ornamental framework surrounding an open field usually reserved for an inscription or emblem. Baumgartner ingeniously adapted the cartouche form for this scene: the framing elements seem to grow out of the landscape but are clearly artificial, and have the appearance of exuberant metalwork intertwined with vegetation and rocks. Deicolus was an Irish saint who founded an abbey in the Burgundy region of France. Ba
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtSaint Deicolus and the BoarOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.