Mis van Gregorius 1425 - 1575

Curator: What a compelling piece! This is "Mis van Gregorius," attributed to the Master of the H. Erasmus, dating roughly between 1425 and 1575. It's a drawing, primarily executed in pen and ink, with touches of tempera. Editor: It’s immediately striking how raw it feels, almost like a woodcut print but with finer detail. The hand of the artist feels very present, in the stark contrast between line and areas of color. Curator: Absolutely. Notice how the artist uses ink to delineate the figures and objects with an almost obsessive level of detail. The red outlines and the smattering of color, likely tempera, serve to highlight the narrative's emotional intensity. We see Gregory, seemingly witnessing Christ during mass. Editor: Yes, and the way the liturgical objects are rendered! The chalices, the book – they are not idealized forms. There's a focus on texture, almost as if the artist were keen on recording how light falls across hammered metal or worked leather. The act of their making matters here. Curator: Precisely! The inclusion of seemingly everyday figures, those onlookers in the background, is fascinating too. It suggests a moment of divine intervention occurring in a very human, worldly setting. Note their varying expressions - disbelief, reverence. It brings into question who bears witness, and what witnessing signifies. Editor: The rough edges, the ink blots—those details whisper about the material constraints. The paper itself probably had imperfections. We’re not looking at an artwork aiming for illusionistic perfection, but something more tied to the practical world of making and, likely, devotional function. Curator: I find that rawness deeply evocative. It resonates, still, with the sheer emotional power and mystery of faith, its rituals and shared communal stories of the era. Editor: Indeed. Thinking about this drawing's production, its likely role within religious practice... It pulls art from the realm of precious object back into the sphere of the lived, worked, and believed.