GERMAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



His eriprmal works confift cliieny of grotefque figures, 

 of which fomeare brno means deilitutc of luimour. It msy 

 fiunceto mention the few follawincr, which are all en;rraved 

 ou fmall plates. 



A beggar man, with an old woman in a wheelbarrow ; a 

 man plaving on a lute, with an old woman liolding a ladle 

 and jar ; two grotefque heads of an old man and woman, 

 marked in a better llyle than the former ; and a lo\-cr and 

 his miilrefs, a fmall circle. 



He copied the fet from the life of Chrlil, the large folio 

 of Chrill bearing tne crofs, and various other of the prints 

 of Martin, but tiic copies may be known from the originals, 

 iby their inferiority as well as by the difference between the 

 two fiTnatures. 



When a man of original genius, or one who may claim that 

 nobleft of human diitinftions, the title of invsntor, (bines 

 forth on the world, a fwnrm of bufy fluttcrers round Isis 

 glory are kindled into exiftence, buzz in his rays, and think 

 to fiiarj his fame. S.ich was Bartholomew S^hben, when 

 confidered with reference to his brotlier ; fuch probably 

 were Paul a!ul G-orge Schoen, who have been mentioned as 

 goidimiths and engravers of this early period, and fuch 

 were thcfe ot!-.er contemporary imitators and immediate 

 fuccelTors of Martin, who now claim fome fmall portion of 

 our notice. 



Of talents far inferior to thofe of Martin Schoen, yet en- 

 gravers to whofe works the \-irtuofi are by no means inatten- 

 tive, were the Ifrael von Mechelns, father and fon, whom 

 Strutt hasmiilakenly inclined to identify, as having been one 

 and the fame individual. Both were natives of Mecheln or 

 Mekenin, a village near Bocholt, in the biihopric of Munfter, 

 in Wcilphalia. 



The elder Ifrael von Mecheln (or Mekenin) was born in 

 the year 1424, and, like Schoen, he was by trade a gold- 

 fmith. 



The year of the nativity of the younger Ifrael lias not 

 been mentioned. The lateil of his engravings is dated in 

 the year 1522, and he died in 1523. It has been conjccti;r. 

 ed, that he iludied under Martin Schoen, from the number 

 he has copied of that mailer's works, but this feems very in- 

 fufficient evidence of the fad. It rather feems to (hew 

 that the barrennefs of his invention corrc.fpondcd \v\l\\ the 

 drynels and iniipidity of his ftyle as an engraver. 



Tlie works of the Von Mechelns [if the fiither en- 

 graved) are numerous. That he did engrave, is inferred by 

 the baron Heinnekin from the following circuniftance. 

 " An attentive examination (he fays) will make it appear 

 that all thefe prints are not by the fame hand. I am aLnoll 

 certain that Ifrael, the father, engraved feveral, thofe cfpe- 

 cJaUy v.hich have the greateft marks of antiquitv, and are 

 executed in a rude ftyle, approaching neareft to the work of 

 the goldfmith. Nor, do I deny, that the foil may have com- 

 menced oyginally as a goldfmith, by engraving armorial 

 bearings, flowers, foliage, erodes, and other ornaments : but 

 he was a painter as well as an engraver, and a man of tolera- 

 ble ability, coiilidering the time in which he lived." 



Strutt, on the other hand, can fee no reafon for dividing 

 the works which pafs under this name, nor can he find any 

 other diiference in the prints than might reafonablv be ex- 

 pected in tlie works of an individual artift, who performed 

 fo many : his moil early productions being of courfe tlie 

 rudeil, but all equally defective where he has attempted to 

 exprefs the naked parts of tlie human figure. 



The difficulty, and the importance alfo, of the queftion, 

 ceafes, when we refiecl that it was part of Uie profeffional 

 bufinefs of the goldfmiths of tkat dav, ih which everv ap- 



VOL. XVI. 



prentice was inftrufled, to ornament theL' produflions witli 

 engraving. 



Of thcfe engravings, fo little worthy of learned conlra- 

 Terfy, the princip.)l arc ; the portrait of the fenior NTckcnen, 

 an elderly man wi;!i a long beard, his Lead drefTed with a 

 turban. The plate is in quarto, and bears the infcriptiosi 

 " Ifrael von Meckenen, Goldfchmit." Ditto of Mekenen, 

 junior, and his '.viio, infcribcd " Figuracio facicrum Ifraliciik 

 et Ide Uxoris, I. V. M."' in 8vo. 



" The Defccnt of the Holy Ghofl ;" « St. Luke Painting 

 the Virgin and Child,'' and a fet of prints from " The Lile 

 of Ciiriil ;" fmall upright folios, though varying a little froDi 

 each other in dimenfions. 



Thefe are among the prints which Heinnekin fupjjofcs So 

 be the work of Mekenen the father, and Strutt, the early 

 produclioiis of the fon. They bear the evident marks of beinw 

 the attempt of a novice, being wretchedly engraved and quit.- 

 as ill drawn. 



" Judith and Holofernes,'' of the folio fize. In l!ie back 

 ground is an army, wK^re cinnon and other modem i.mple- 

 ments of war are ignorantly introduced. " The Banquet of 

 Herodias." Tliis alfo is a folio plate, twelve inches in length, 

 and marked Ifraiiel V. M. At one end is feen the decolla- 

 tion of St. John the baptiit ; ai.d at the o:her, Herodias and 

 her father appear feated at table. " Herod's C.utlty," is a 

 middle-fized upright. 



Of holy famihes, the Ifracls engraved feveral, tlie chief 

 of which may be known from each other by the followino- 

 peculiarities. In one, the Virgin Mary, habited in a long 

 robe, is (ilting with the infant Chrift, while beyond an en- 

 clofure appears St. Jcfepli repofmg. Toward the bottom, 

 at the right hand corner, is a fmall grafbhop.pcr, from which 

 it has obtained the name t-f the Virgin t>f the Grafshoppcr. 

 It is in quarto, and infcribed Ifrael V. M. (This pkte has 

 b»en copied, with i.mprovements, bt.th by Albert Durer and 

 Mark Antonio.) In another, the Virgin Mary, feated in a 

 landfcapc, is about to kifs the ir.'"ant Savio'jr ; the Deity ap- 

 pears in the clouds above ; and St. Jofeph ileeping. .(This 

 is a middling-fized upright, and is partly f niihcd by means of 

 fcratclie?, v-hich ars apparently made wiih *he point of tiic 

 graver, fomcwhat in the manner of Rembrar;dt. ) In an- 

 other, w'-.ich is dated 1480, the Virgin aiid Child are fur- 

 rounded by four angeh. This is alfo a isiddlinr-fijcd 

 upright. 



Of other facred fubjefls, we fiiall r-.er.tion " The Anntir;- 

 cialion," in 8vo., where an angel appears holding a fcroil, oa 

 which is tiie motto " Ave. Gra,'" and the Virgin ].■; ki!e<^in^- 

 before a praj-ing defic, on which is infcribcd I. V. M. " Tire 

 Death of the Virgin Wary,'' copiid from .Schcen. « Tl :; 

 Virgin crowned by Angels, and iia^iriingon a Crcfcent, wisil.t 

 the (all of Satan is rcprefcuted belov.'," an upright f j!!>. 

 " The Scourging of Chrill,'* ditto. " The Bearing of the 

 Crofs,'' a large folio, copied from Schoen, and tv. ■., lavgf- 

 folios ot the " Cruciirxion of our Saviour," which are d;f- 

 tingnilliable from each other by the following peculiarities : 

 in tlie one, angels are receiving the blood from the wourjdi 

 of the dying Saviour, while the Madonna a.-d St. John ap- 

 pear below : in the other, which is efteen.ed tne fuperior 

 v.ork, St. John holds a book in one iiand, wiiile the other 

 is lifted, and tlie hands of the Madonna are ciafped ; and the 

 ground in tlie latter is almoft left wiiitejT.hereas in tlie former 

 it is nearly covered with engir.viijg. 



From the legends of tl;e Roras-n Catliolic rubrics, thf 

 younger Ifrael has engiT.ven, «' St. George ai.d the Dia- 

 gon," in 4to. infcribed I. V. M. Schben's " St. An- 

 thony tormented by Demons ;" and "St. Jero;:ie," in 

 which the faiat appears feated u» a room ir.d pointinti to a 



5r 'ficuU. 



