Drawings of religious themes
by Jan GOSSART

Jan Gossart is the first Netherlandish artist who left us a fairly large and varied body of drawings. These drawings present an invaluable complement to his extant paintings, casting light on his artistic evolution and working process as well as on the scope of his activity. They includes several sheets executed in a number of techniques, and they range in subject from sketches after antique sculpture and architecture and mythological and biblical compositions to ornament drawings.

Gossart's early drawings relate closely to a new style that developed in Antwerp in the early decades of the sixteenth century. He was one of the pioneers of the Antwerp Mannerists and one of their most talented practitioners. Gossart's drawings reflect his exposure to antique sculpture and architecture during his trip to Rome in 1508-09, and they also reflect his interest in modern Italian art. The influence of Gossart's Italian studies on his work was immediate and is especially apparent in his drawings. He referred to his Italian studies throughout his career.

Preview Picture Data Info
The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine
1503-08
Pen and brown ink, 227 x 172 mm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen


The Holy Family Seated at the Foot of a Tree
1510-15
Pen and brown ink, over black chalk, on vellum, 156 x 127 mm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York


Virgin and Child with Sts Catherine and Barbara
1510-15
Black chalk, 424 x 299 mm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam


The Beheading of St John the Baptist
1510-15
Pen and black ink, heightened with white gouache, on gray-brown prepared paper, diameter 245 mm
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris


St John the Evangelist on Patmos
1515-20
Pen and brown ink, diameter 210 mm
Private collection


The Adoration of the Magi
1515-20
Pen and brown ink on vellum, 270 x 194 mm
Musée du Louvre, Paris


Adam and Eve
c. 1520
Pen and ink, brush and ink, and white gouache, on blue-gray prepared paper, 348 x 239 mm
Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth


Adam and Eve
1520-25
Pen and brown ink over black chalk or charcoal, 259 x 211 mm
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna


Adam Accuses Eve before God
1520-25
Pen and gray-brown ink, 200 x 265 mm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam


Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist
1520s
Pen and brown ink, 135 x 154 mm
British Museum, London


Virgin of Humility
1520-25
Pen and brown ink, 218 x 198 mm
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich


The Adoration of the Shepherds
1520s
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray-blue ink, 110 x 83 mm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin


The Presentation in the Temple
1520s
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown in, brown wash on brown paper, 394 x 165 mm
Kunsthalle, Hamburg


The Crowning with Thorns
1520s
Pen and brown ink over black chalk, 274 x 252 mm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin


The Lamentation
1520s
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown ink, brown wash, black chalk, 277 x 305 mm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin


The Conversion of Saul
1520s
Pen and brown ink, over black chalk, 303 x 438 mm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin


The Martyrdom of St Cyriacus and His Companions
1520s
Pen and brown ink over black chalk, 287 x 467 mm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen


Scenes from the Life of St Giles
1520s
Pen and brown ink over black chalk, 299 x 422 mm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen


Design for a Triptych
1520s
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray ink, gray wash, over black chalk, 322 x 512 mm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin



Summary of works by Jan Gossart
Paintings
Altarpieces | Depictions of the Virgin
St Luke Drawing the Virgin | Other religious subjects
Mythological subjects | Portraits
Graphics
Religious drawings | Drawings of antique art
Ornamental drawings | Prints



© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.