Rocky Landscape with The Stigmatization of St. Francis

Art Historical Context

In the late 16th to early 17th century Flemish engraver Aegid Sadeler II crafted *Rocky Landscape with Theigmatization of St.*, a masterful print capturing the miraculous moment when St. Francis of Assisi received wounds of Christ from a heavenly seraph. Created around 1590–1620, this work exemplifies the Northern Mannerist style, blending intricate religious narrative with dramatic natural scenery. Sadeler, part of a renowned family of engravers active across Europe—from Antwerp to Prague—excel in reproductive prints that popularized paintings for a wider audience. Rendered as an engraving on luxurious ivory laid paper (plate: 20.9 × 27.4 cm), the technique involves incising fine lines into a copper plate, inking it, and pressing onto paper to produce rich, tonal depth. This method allowed Sadeler to evoke the rugged textures of rocky cliffs and ethereal light, heightening the spiritual intensity of the stigmatization—a pivotal event in Franciscan devotion symbolizing divine union. The ivory paper's subtle sheen enhances the print's luminosity, making it a prized collector's item. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings Department, this engraving reflects the era's printmaking revolution, which democratized art amid the Counter-Reformation's push for vivid piety. Visitors will appreciate its meticulous detail, inviting close inspection of how landscape amplifies the sacred drama.

About the Artist

Aegidius Sadeler, II · 1570–1629

Aegidius Sadeler II was born in Antwerp around 1570 into the most distinguished printmaking dynasty of the sixteenth century. The Sadeler family — spanning Jan I, Raphael, and Aegidius I — dominated the European print trade from their Flemish base, and Aegidius II was trained by his uncle Jan Sadeler I, under whom he was listed as a pupil in the records of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1585. He...