St Martin and the Beggar

This composition is based on a Netherlandish print. The Chinese carver copied the devotional inscription in Latin from the print ("He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again"), but the cursive script underneath, which probably gave the names of the engraver and publisher of the source were rendered indecipherable on the ivory. The relief is based on an engraving from the late sixteenth century by the Flemish print maker and designer Adriaen Collaert, after the Flemish artist Johannes Stradanus.