Artwork
Christ as a Gardener Appearing to St. Mary Magdalen
Christ as a Gardener Appearing to St. Mary Magdalen is a print by the Renaissance artist Lucas van Leyden. It dates from 1519 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1519 by the Dutch artist Lucas van Leyden, this print belongs to the religious genre and is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection. The composition presents a garden scene in which a bearded, elderly man gestures toward a kneeling woman beside a pot, set against a backdrop of trees and a distant settlement.
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts the biblical episode in which Christ, disguised as a gardener, reveals himself to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection. The woman’s bowed head and attentive posture suggest prayerful contemplation, while the gardener’s pointing gesture emphasizes the moment of recognition and spiritual revelation.
Technique & Style
Executed as an engraving, the image relies on crisp, intersecting lines to model the drapery of the figures’ garments and to render the delicate curvature of the pot’s handle. Van Leyden’s handling of line creates a clear sense of texture and depth, characteristic of early 16th‑century Northern printmaking.
History & Provenance
Lucas van Leyden, renowned for both engraving and woodcut, produced this piece during the later phase of his career. It entered the Cleveland Museum of Art’s holdings through acquisition, where it remains displayed as an example of Dutch Renaissance printmaking and its devotional themes.
Artist & collection
Artist
Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very accomplished engraver.
Salome with the head of St John the Baptist
The Virgin and Child
Worship of the Golden Calf
A Game of Chess
Mary with Child, St. Maria Magdalena and founder (separate outside, Inv. No. 7713)
Inner left wing of a diptych with Christ as the Man of Sorrows
Inner right wing of a diptych with the Virgin as Mater Dolorosa
Annunciation
