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Saint Vincent, martyr
17 February 2018

Saint Vincent, martyr

You have just a few more weeks to see some remarkable wood engravings and woodcuts by Escher up close in The Palace. On 12 March they will be returned to the archive to be replaced by new graphic treasures. Earlier we discussed Grasshopper, Tournai Cathedral and Scarabs. Today we will focus on St. Vincent, martyr.

M.C. Escher, Saint Vincent, martyr, woodcut, July 1925

M.C. Escher, Saint Vincent, martyr, woodcut, July 1925

The name of this saint derives from the Latin ‘vincere’: to conquer or to overcome. According to the legend, Saint Vincent was captured with his bishop Valerius of Saragossa during the Christian persecutions in the fourth century under Emperor Diocletianus. The local governor banished the bishop, but Saint Vincent was tortured horribly in an attempt to make him recant his faith. Despite these torments Vincent did not capitulate and he defended his faith vigorously. In the end he was thrown in a dungeon filled with shards of glass to await his death. But Vincent was saved by angels who transformed the glass into flowers. When the governor understood how remarkable Vincent’s survival was in the face of all this cruelty, he ordered him to be set free and cared for, afraid of how the people might otherwise react. However, Vincent had barely been given a comfortable bed when his body succumbed. The furious governor ordered the body to be dumped outside the city to be eaten by birds of prey and wild animals. But a raven stood guard next to the body and chased away all predators. Christians buried him at what is now known as Cape St. Vincent in the Portuguese Algarve. A shrine was erected over his grave, which continued to be guarded by flocks of ravens.

M.C. Escher, Atrani (Seen from Pontone), Coast of Amalfi, woodcut, February 1932

M.C. Escher, Atrani (Seen from Pontone), Coast of Amalfi, woodcut, February 1932

In the woodcut the gigantic raven stands out, looming protectively over the radiant saint. On a cliff some howling wolves look down in frustration. Escher complements the composition with a town that can be seen in the depth. This town is fictional but the inspiration is clear. He had been to Atrani for the first time in the spring of 1923 and the town on the Amalfi coast would have a lasting influence on his work. The reference in this print is a clear one, although the literal similarities are small.

Erik Kersten

Erik Kersten

Editor

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In the years after the war Escher used to take walks after supper in the woods surrounding his house in Baarn. He spent many hours there, both to clear his head but also to fill it with new ideas for graphic work. From 1951 onwards he started to write them down in his diary. One of these notes from that year goes like this:
'Traces of car and bicycle tires, perspectively seen, diagonally; Sloping recess filled with water: puddle. In it, the moon is reflected.'
He would go on to develop this idea into the woodcut Puddle, from February 1952. He subsequently described this print as follows:
'The cloudless evening sky is reflected in a puddle which a recent shower has left in a woodland path. The tracks of two motor cars, two bicycles and two pedestrians are impressed in the boggy ground.'
Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, 1944

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, 1944

On 31 January 1944 Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita was taken away by the Germans. He died in Auschwitz on 11 February. De Mesquita was Escher’s teacher, the man who would convince him to start a career in the graphic arts.