St. Francis
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
image: 44.6 × 28.9 cm · sheet: 47.6 × 31.6 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
James Parmelee Fund
Accession Number
2023.159
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
The French engraver Claude Mellan spent time in Rome, where he developed a unique engraving style that uses simplified linear patterns and swelled lines to create optical, almost abstract effects. He made this image St. Francis, one of several featuring saints in the wilderness, just after he returned to Paris. The engraver’s inventive patterns of lines cross at small angles, creating moiré effects, so that the surface seems to shimmer.