St. Simon, from Apostles n.d.

This is Martin Schongauer's "St. Simon, from Apostles," a delicate engraving on metal plate from the late 15th century. The composition immediately draws you in, with St. Simon standing almost isolated on a small patch of land. He is adorned in robes with intricate folds which provide a mesmerizing display of line and texture. Schongauer masterfully uses hatching and cross-hatching to create depth and shadow. Lines are not merely outlines, but active participants in modeling form and suggesting light. Notice how the density of lines increases in the darker areas, giving weight and volume to the figure. The zig-zagging saw, Simon's attribute, is rendered with precision and care and acts almost as an abstract, decorative element. The formal structure reflects the period's theological underpinnings, but there is also a proto-modernist sensibility in the flattening of space and emphasis on line. The engraving invites us to explore the tension between representation and abstraction, between the sacred and the aesthetic. The close attention to the material quality of the print—the fineness of the lines, the subtle gradations of tone—reminds us that meaning is not just found in the subject, but also in the making.