St. Francis
1638
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Claude Mellan
Claude Mellan (1598–1688) was a French artist, born in Abbeville.
See the richer artist page1638
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
St. Francis is a 1638 by Claude Mellan, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a thin, bearded man in a rough robe standing alone in a rocky landscape, his hands raised toward a glowing light. This isn’t a painting—it’s an engraving made from a single, unbroken line that swells and narrows to create shadows and highlights. The lines cross at slight angles, making the surface look like it’s vibrating. Mellan did this by hand, without any cross-hatching. To see how other artists used light and shadow, look up *chiaroscuro*.
The French engraver Claude Mellan spent time in Rome, where he developed a unique engraving style that uses simplified linear patterns and swelled lines to create optical, almost abstract effects. He made this image St. Francis , one of several featuring saints in the wilderness, just after he returned to Paris. The engraver’s inventive patterns of lines cross at small angles, creating moiré effects, so that the surface seems to shimmer.
Notice how the engraver portrayed the cloak of St. Francis with patches of parallel, swelled lines placed at different angles.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Claude Mellan (1598–1688) was a French artist, born in Abbeville.
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