St. Augustine and the Child on the Seashore

Master of the Nuremberg Passion, c. 1465–1469

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Artist: Master of the Nuremberg Passion (German)
Medium: Engraving
Size: Image: 19.1 x 12.3 cm (7 1/2 x 4 13/16 in.); Sheet: 19.1 x 12.3 cm (7 1/2 x 4 13/16 in.)
Culture: Germany
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

In the foreground of this print, Saint Augustine sees a child spooning seawater into a hole in the sand, a metaphor for the saint’s struggle to understand divinity. The print may have been inspired by the strong presence of friars in Germany who followed Augustine’s teachings. Though the training of the engraver known as Master of the Nuremberg Passion remains unidentified, this engraving—the only known impression of this image—displays a goldsmith’s attention to ornamental detail. Bold contour lines are shaded with closely spaced cross-hatching, while curved lines depict water. Along the grass, the engraver left some ink on the plate’s surface (known as plate tone) to add shadow.