Louvre Reveals Martin Schongauer's Virtuosity After 400 Years of Obscurity

The Musée du Louvre in Paris is hosting "Martin Schongauer – Le bel immortel," an exhibition that finally brings the 15th-century German artist out of four centuries of relative obscurity. The show features the exceptional loan of "La Vierge au buisson de roses" from the Dominican church in Colmar, proving Schongauer's lineage with Flemish masters Rogier van der Weyden and Dirk Bouts. The exhibition is structured as a comparative investigation, highlighting Schongauer's mastery of burin engraving on copper, with 112 to 116 engravings signed with his monogram "MS," ranging from religious subjects to fantastic animals and decorative motifs for goldsmithing. Works like "La Mort de la Vierge" (c. 1475) demonstrate his fluid line and subtle gradations of black and white. The second part of the exhibition traces Schongauer's influence on later artists across Europe, from Albrecht Dürer to Jacopo Zucchi in Italy, and includes comparisons with Spanish painter Martín Bernat's "Retable de la Vierge de Montserrat" (1495), which adapts Schongauer's "Temptation of Saint Anthony." The exhibition runs until July 20, 2026, at the Louvre's mezzanine Napoléon.