St. James and the Magician Hermogenes

Description

St. James and the Magician Hermogenes sets a religious confrontation within an elaborate world of demonic activity. A staff-bearing figure stands amid the scene, while a figure with a book and numerous grotesque creatures occupy the surrounding space. Pieter van der Heyden engraved the composition after Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565. Its crowded arrangement gives the encounter a scale that extends beyond the principal human figures.

Fine lines define instruments, bodies and strange inventions around the great opening in the foreground. The image’s precision makes the fantastical setting feel organized even when its inhabitants appear disorderly. Rather than reducing the story to a single decisive gesture, the print draws attention toward the atmosphere of menace surrounding it. Faith and magical power become contrasting presences within a landscape whose smallest details demand continued examination.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Pieter Bruegel collection.