Christ Among the Doctors

Israhel van Meckenem depicted the 12-year old Christ’s spirited discussions with learned doctors and priests in the temple at Jerusalem. In three short days, Christ assimilated and surpassed their knowledge of scripture, and in this print he lectures his rapt audience from a book on the podium beside his magisterial throne. The construction of the throne is similar to the heavenly one in Martin Schongauer’s Christ Blessing the Virgin (1956.864).