The Body of Christ
late 17th century
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 20 × 14.9 cm (7 7/8 × 5 7/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Alessandra Manning Dolnier
Accession Number
2018.113.22
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Giuseppe Diamantini’s late 17th-century etching *The Body of Christ* offers a quiet yet powerful example of Baroque devotional printmaking. Created on laid paper and measuring just 20 by 14.9 centimeters, the small sheet was well suited for private contemplation or inclusion in personal prayer books. Etching, a technique that allowed artists to draw fluidly with a needle on a wax-coated plate before acid bit the lines into the metal, gave Diamantini the freedom to render delicate folds of drapery and subtle modeling of form while enabling multiple impressions to circulate widely. As a print rather than a unique painting or sculpture, the work participated in the period’s growing culture of accessible religious imagery. Collectors and worshippers could own and meditate upon the suffering and humanity of Christ without needing to visit a church or chapel. The intimate scale encourages close looking, rewarding viewers with the fine, expressive lines characteristic of the medium. Now part of the National Gallery of Art’s collection through the generosity of Alessandra Manning Dolnier, this etching preserves both the spiritual intensity of its subject and the technical refinement of Baroque printmaking for today’s audiences.
About the Artist
Giuseppe Diamantini · 1621–1705
Comment on works: Religious; Mythology; History