Elijah in the Wilderness Fed by Ravens
1604
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1604
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A raven drops bread at a weary man’s feet in a rocky desert. The scene comes straight from the Old Testament. Elijah, starving in the wilderness, gets fed by birds sent by God. This print was made in 1604, when Dutch artists loved dramatic lighting. Jan Saenredam cut the image into metal himself, a trick called engraving. You can see every scratch in the plate that made these shadows. Look next at Jan Saenredam (Dutch, 1565–1607).
