The Road to Calvary
1475/80
Medium
Drypoint in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 12.9 × 19.3 cm (5 1/8 × 7 5/8 in.); Sheet, trimmed within platemark: 13 × 19.4 cm (5 1/8 × 7 11/16 in.)
Classification
drypoint
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
110881
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This dramatic depiction of Christ’s suffering on his way to the Crucifixion is one of the first examples of drypoint by the anonymous master who invented this method of engraving. In drypoint the image is drawn directly on a metal plate with a sharp instrument, a process that preserves the artist’s personal “handwriting” and imparts to the print a characteristically velvety line. Here the printmaker skillfully exploited the soft, atmospheric effects, silvery shadows, and sense of delicate, lumin...