St. Alexis
1649
Medium
Engraving; first state of two
Dimensions
sheet: 19 3/16 x 14 3/16 in. (48.8 x 36 cm) plate: 17 3/16 x 12 1/2 in. (43.7 x 31.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1941
Accession Number
41.57.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
Claude Mellan’s 1649 engraving *St. Alexis* captures the French artist’s refined mastery of the medium during the Baroque period. Created as the first of two states, this print depicts the fifth-century saint in a moment of humble devotion, surrounded by symbolic figures and a prominent cross. Mellan, celebrated for his innovative single-line technique that avoided traditional cross-hatching, achieves remarkable depth and luminosity through precise, parallel strokes—an approach that highlights both the saint’s ascetic life and the spiritual intensity of the scene. Measuring roughly 17 by 12 i...
About the Artist
Claude Mellan · 1598–1688
Claude Mellan (1598-1688) was a French draughtsman, engraver, and painter who became one of the most innovative printmakers of the French Baroque period. Born in Abbeville to a family of coppersmiths, Mellan rose to become Peintre et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi (Painter and Engraver in Ordinary to the King), achieving recognition for his extraordinary technical mastery. Mellan's artistic significanc...