In the larger of the two engravings from which he takes his name, we see reflected the pleasure-loving court of the Dukes of Burgundy. On the right, a lady leads her lover to a table spread with tempting viands. She stretches forth her right hand to take the fruit. It is a fig, the sign of fertility. To their right, drinking from a stream, is a unicorn, the sign of chastity. The artist seemingly wishes the lady’s message to read that she is still unwedded, and that, were she wedded, she would be a good mother. Observe, likewise, the way in which the engraver has placed the wild hogs, deer, and bears emerging from the woods, while, in the sky, numerous birds wing their flight. In the immediate foreground a lady and a cavalier are reading poetry to each other. Another lady plays to a gallant who, in a most uncomfortable attitude, holds a sheet of music. In the right-hand corner is a fourth pair, the lady busily twining a wreath for her lover’s hat, which lies on her lap. We have here a compendium of the courtly life of the time, which is about 1448. THE MASTER OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST may fittingly be called the first _realist_ in engraving. His plates do not display that extraordinary delicacy in cutting which is characteristic of the Master of the Playing Cards. Like that earlier engraver, he makes little use of cross-hatching, and his strokes are freely disposed--more in the manner of a painter than a goldsmith-engraver. His birds and flowers are closely observed and admirably rendered. The mullein, the columbine, and the iris in _St. John the Baptist_ are each given their individual character; the tree trunks to the right no longer resemble twisted columns, as in earlier work, but have real bark with knot holes and branches organically joined, though the foliage is still conventionally treated. One cannot but remark, also, the skilful way in which the engraver has differentiated between the furry undergarment and the cloak which St. John the Baptist wears. In _St. Christopher_ we have probably one of his latest works. His representation of the waves, of the sky and clouds, is noteworthy, while, on the beach, the sea-shells give mute testimony to his love for little things.