About this artwork
The Gospel of Matthew in the Christian Bible relates how three disciples accompanied Jesus to a remote hill where they saw him flanked by the prophets Moses and Elijah, and his body transfigured by a heavenly light: “his face did shine as the sun,” in Matthew’s words. Here, Camillo Procaccini visualized the supernatural event by depicting Jesus as a cloud of small dots unbound by any outline. The features of his face are barely visible, since during the etching of the plate they were exposed to the acid for a short time, creating shallow grooves that picked up very little ink. The evanescent effect aptly presents Jesus as hovering between the bodily and the spiritual realms.
-
Status
- Currently Off View
-
Department
- Prints and Drawings
-
Artist
- Camillo Procaccini
-
Title
- The Transfiguration
-
Place
- Italy (Artist's nationality:)
-
Date
- 1585–1595
-
Medium
- Etching in black on cream laid paper
-
Dimensions
- 56.5 × 35.5 cm (22 1/4 × 14 in.)
-
Credit Line
- Gift of Herbert Mitchell and Marion Livingston Endowment
-
Reference Number
- 1994.250
-
IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/131392/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
