Saint Philipp Neri with Cross and Book
Medium
Etching on wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 13.8 × 8.3 cm (5 7/16 × 3 5/16 in.); Sheet: 36.3 × 27.6 cm (14 5/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
141443
Art Historical Context
Johann Friedrich Overbeck's *Saint Philipp Neri with and Book* (1826) captures the spirit of one of Catholicism's most beloved reformers, Saint Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians known as the "Apostle of Rome" his joyful piety. Rendered as a delicate etching, the work depicts the saint holding a cross and book—symbols of his devotion and scholarly life—evoking a sense of quiet contemplation. Overbeck, a key in the Nazarene movement drew inspiration from early Renaissance masters like Raphael, seeking to revive spiritual purity in art amid the secularism of post-Napoleonic Europe. This etc...