The Baptism of Christ
In this somber engraving, Christ is seated on a block of stone, surrounded by angels. He wears a long, tasseled robe, holds a small branch in his hands as if it were a scepter and has thorny branches circling his head as if they were a crown. The narrative of Christ wearing a crown of thorns is recounted in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John and when he is tortured and mocked by his jailers just prior to the Crucifixion. Jan Muller was one of the most sought-after Mannerist printmakers, engraving the compositions of the leading artists of the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth- centuries. Here in a relatively rare composition after his own designs, he removes the event from the story of the Passion and sets it in heaven, turning the image into an object of veneration and devotion. He places it within an arched frame, similar to that in The Baptism of Christ (51.501.6338) and The Virgin with the Child Blessing (2014.662), though less elaborate, so that the print functions almost like a small altar.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Baptism of Christ
- Artist: Jan Muller (Netherlandish, Amsterdam 1571–1628 Amsterdam)
- Publisher: Harmen Jansz. Muller (Netherlandish, Amsterdam ca. 1540–1617 Amsterdam)
- Date: 1590
- Medium: Engraving; New Holl's third state of four
- Dimensions: Sheet: 11 11/16 × 8 7/16 in. (29.7 × 21.5 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
- Object Number: 51.501.6336
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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n.d.
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