Saint Augustine in Conversation with Saint Monica

This pen-and-ink drawing by Hans von Kulmbach, whose real name was Hans Suess, was executed as a design for a window in the choir of the hall church Saint Sebald in Nuremberg. Produced in 1519, the window still exists today. It shows Saint Augustine as a bishop, with a child at his feet, together with his mother, Saint Monica, whom Augustine had converted to Christianity shortly before her death. The spoon in the child’s hand, symbolizing the impossibility of being able to empty the sea, emphasizes how difficult it was for her to convert. The conversation between the two early Christian saints takes place in an open Renaissance hall with columns. Equally light and modern are the pen marks and application of a wash with a brush that highlights the naturalness of the figures. These enable us to date this work to the second decade of the 16th century, and to attribute it to Hans von Kulmbach. Kulmbach was a prominent pupil and close confidante of Albrecht Dürer. He created the pen-and-ink drawing when he had already opened his own workshop in Nuremberg. Like Dürer, when creating the glasswork, he collaborated closely with Veit Hirschvogel; in this instance, there are clear differences between the design and the finished window, however.