2-739-560 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Saint Eustace, c. 1501. Saint Eustace, the largest of Dürer's engravings, reflects his intense, scientific interest in the depiction of nature so that the profusion of detail almost obscures the subject. While hunting, Saint Eustace, then a Roman general named Placidas, saw a miraculous apparition of the crucifix between the horns of a stag. When he heard God's voice spoken by the animal-"O Placidas, why pursuest thou me?"-he fell from his horse and became a Christian. The intricacy of the engraving, which denies the inherent linearity of the medium in favor of tonal values, can be fully appreciated in this clearly yet richly printed impression.