1650
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Christ on the Cross between the Two Thieves is a 1650 ink by French 17th Century, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This engraving shows three men nailed to crosses on a hill. The center figure has his arms spread wide, while the two on the sides hang limp. Below, a crowd of people watches, some standing, others kneeling or lying on the ground. The sky is dark and swirling, with a few wispy clouds near the top. The artist used fine lines to create shadows and texture, especially in the clothes and the rocky ground. The faces of the crowd are blurred, making them look like a single mass of people. Try looking up cross-hatching to see how artists build depth with just lines.
Seventeenth-century French printmakers turned ink into story. Their tools were burin and acid, paper their stage. Look at the Beggar Woman with Rosary (1622), etched on laid paper, her hands folded around faith, or The…
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