Broadsheet with Saint Camilo de Lelis in bed surrounded by demons, priests and the Holy Trinity above
ca. 1900–10
Medium
Photorelief and letterpress
Dimensions
Sheet: 15 3/4 × 11 13/16 in. (40 × 30 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1946
Accession Number
46.46.319
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking broadsheet from around 1900–1910 depicts Saint Camillus de Lellis (Camilo de Lelis), the 16th-century Italian founder of the Order of the Ministers of the Sick, lying in bed amid a dramatic heavenly and hellish tableau. Surrounding him are menacing demons clawing at his form, protective priests, and the radiant Holy Trinity above—Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy—symbolizing divine intervention. Such vivid imagery captures a pivotal moment from the saint's life, when he overcame personal temptations, including gambling demons, to devote himself to caring for the ill, earning hi...