Among the myriad renderings of the _Death of the Virgin_, by painters and engravers, it is doubtful if any version is superior, so far as dramatic intensity is concerned, to Schongauer’s. As a composition, Dürer’s woodcut from the _Life of the Virgin_, is simpler and more “telling,” in that certain non-essentials have been eliminated; but could we well spare so beautiful a design as that of the candelabrum which, in Schongauer’s engraving, stands at the foot of the bed? From the twelve plates of the _Passion_, each of which repays study, it is not easy to select one for reproduction. The _Crucifixion_, a subject which Schongauer engraved no less than six times, has a poignant charm; and for sheer beauty the _Resurrection_ is among the most significant of the series. _Pilate Washing His Hands_ has, however, a double interest. The faces of Christ’s tormentors and of the figures standing beside and to the left of Pilate’s throne, are strongly characterized, portrait-like heads, in marked contrast with the gentleness of Christ, and the weak and vacillating Pilate. The enthroned Pilate later reappears as the _Prophet Daniel_ in the series of _Prophets and Sibyls_, Florentine engravings in the Fine Manner. We have already referred to _St. John on the Island of Patmos_ by the Master E. S. A more significant contrast between the work of the earlier engraver and that of Schongauer could hardly be found. The Master E. S. gives a multiplicity of objects, animate and inanimate, charming and interesting in themselves, but distracting from the main purpose of the composition--witness the _St. Christopher_ crossing the river in the middle distance, the lion and the terrified horse in the wood to the right, the swan in the stream to the left, and the life-like birds perched upon the castle-crowned cliff. Schongauer eliminates all these accessories. One vessel and two small boats alone break the calm expanse of the unruffled sea. Save for the two plants in the foreground (which betray the influence of the Master of the Playing Cards) the ground is simply treated and offers little to distract our attention from the seated figure of St. John, who faces to the left and gazes upwards at the Madonna and Child in glory. The eagle bears a strong family likeness to the same bird in the _Design for a Paten_ by the Master E. S. Schongauer has here drawn a tree, not bare, as is his wont, but adorned with foliage beautifully disposed and artistically treated, in marked contrast to the conventional and decorative manner of the Master E. S. and his predecessors. [Illustration: MARTIN SCHONGAUER. ST. JOHN ON THE ISLAND OF PATMOS Size of the original engraving, 6½ × 4⅝ inches In the Kunsthalle, Hamburg] [Illustration: MARTIN SCHONGAUER. CHRIST APPEARING TO THE MAGDALEN Size of the original engraving, 6¼ × 6⅛ inches In the Kunsthalle, Hamburg]