The invention of the cross; three men lifting a cross from a trench; from 'Recueil d'estampes d'après les plus beaux tableaux et d'après les plus beaux desseins qui sont en France, Cabinet Crozat' after a drawing by Pinturicchio
Medium
Etching and aquatint with tone woodblock
Dimensions
Sheet: 20 7/8 × 15 1/16 in. (53.1 × 38.3 cm) Plate: 16 1/8 × 12 3/8 in. (41 × 31.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Harry G. Friedman, 1960
Accession Number
60.708(72)
Art Historical Context
In the heart of Renaissance storytelling, this etching captures a pivotal moment from the Legend of the True Cross: men laboring to lift the sacred cross from a trench,izing its "invention" or discovery. Originally a drawing by the Italian master Bernardo di Betto, known as Pinturicchio (ca. 1454–1513), a key figure in the Umbrian school alongside Perugino, the scene brims with narrative drama and intricate detail typical of his late 15th-century style.uricchio's works often adorned grand fresco cycles, blending vivid humanism with religious fervor. French printmaker Nicolas Le Sueur faithful...