The Mocking of Christ (Le Christ au roseau)
circa 1630-1631
17th century
25.7 cm x 21.2 cm (10 1/8 in. x 8 3/8 in.)
Anthony van Dyck
(Antwerp, 1599 - 1641, London)
Primary
Object Type:
print
Artist Nationality:
Europe, Flemish
Medium and Support:
Etching (and engraving by Lucas Vorsterman)
Credit Line:
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002
Accession Number:
2002.1127
Aside from the Iconography, a celebrated collection of portraits of fellow artists, Van Dyck created only three etchings. The Mocking of Christ, an interpretation of his own painting of 1627, is by far the most pictorial and dramatic. It began as an energetic but lightly bitten sketch in the manner of Italian etching. Vosterman, a regular interpreter of Rubens, then re-worked the plate with burin to develop its seeming color, brilliant illumination, and intense feeling. In this fusion of traditions, it is a signal example of early Baroque style.