Obviously related to an important commission, this design for a monumental glass window depicts (at top) St. John the Evangelist inspired to write the Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse, in exile on the island of Patmos. Below, he is boiled in oil but miraculously survives thanks to his faith in God. The last scene represents the saint at the end of his life, stepping into a grave he dug himself. In the lower part, he is seen flanked by a rooster, holding a coat of arms and a figure of the patron of the window. The latter cannot be identified, and it is not known whether the window was ever executed. Gossaert received at least one other known commission for a window, but he died before he could fulfill it. This sheet is among the oldest surviving Netherlandish drawings of this kind. (http://www.metmuseum.org)