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Unrecorded Early Modern woodcut related to the Eucharist.

Unrecorded Early Modern woodcut related to the Eucharist.

[Ephemera] / [Eucharist]. Verbum caro factum est. [France?]: s.n., s.a. [17th or 18th century?]. [18.4 x 11.0 cm], [1] f. woodcut on laid paper, no watermark.

 

Unusual (and unrecorded) ephemeral woodcut relating to the celebration of the Eucharist during Catholic Mass. The undated woodcut on laid paper would seem, based on style, to date to the 17th or 18th century and perhaps is of French origin, although these matters are certainly open to debate.

 

In a central oval is a depiction of curtains being drawn back to reveal the host within its monstrance beneath a canopy under which is written the verse from John 1:14 commonly heard at Mass, “Verbum caro factum est” (“The Word was made flesh”). This scene is flanked by angels on clouds clasping their hands in prayer. This visual formula of angles flanking or holding aloft the host/monstrance is to be found in 15th-century woodcuts, modern devotional prints and all periods in between.

 

It is possible that this item was used during the rite, but more likely it was a memento given to those who celebrated Eucharist during a period in which it was required to do so only once a year, or perhaps it was a souvenir given to a child upon the occasion of first taking of the Eucharist. It may also have been intended simply as a devotional image. The non-rectangular shape of the print awaits explanation.

 

Not in OCLC or KVK.

    $450.00Price
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