Camillo Procaccini
Italian, 1555-1629
The Transfiguration
INV-1313
Camillo Procaccini
Italian, 1555-1629c. 1590
The Transfiguration
Camillo Procaccini Italian, 1555-1629 →etchingprint
Date
c. 1590
Medium
Etching in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
56.5 × 35.5 cm (22 1/4 × 14 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Herbert Mitchell and Marion Livingston Endowment
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.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
The Miracle of the Ticino River
Camillo Procaccini Italian, 1555-1629
Saint Roch Healing Sufferers from the Plauge, from Recueil d'estampes d'après les plus célèbres tableaux de la Galerie Royale de Dresde
Giuseppe Camerata (Italian, 1718-1803) after Camillo Procaccini (Italian, c. 1555-1629) after Charles François Hutin (French, 1715-1776)
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Camillo Procaccini Italian, c. 1555-1629
