Christ as the Man of Sorrows

Christ as the Man of Sorrows

Frans Crabbe van Espleghem

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Christ's unnaturally contorted figure typifies Crabbe's work in its peculiar melding of medieval Netherlandish stylistic conventions and classical Renaissance principles. In this modestly proportioned yet immensely powerful etching, Christ, in a traditional devotional portrayal, sits at the edge of a sepulchre, clutching the base of the cross. The column and the scourge, symbols of his flagellation loom behind. Crabbe distinguished forms by juxtaposing patterns: the hatching on Christ's body, the undulating grain of the cross, and the stippled surface of the edge of the tomb. Thus, at a time when artists were still experimenting with the etching technique, he created an exemplar of the varied tones and textures that the printed line can produce. While the abstraction of the composition and its agitated patterning--in particular in the loincloth's myriad folds--are reminiscent of late Gothic art, the source of Christ's pensive ose and muscular body can be traced to the German master Albrecht Dürer, whose prints were circulating throughout northern Europe. Dürer probably met Crabbe during a visit to the latter's native city of Mechelen in 1521. Crabbe's works are very rare; this print is known in only one other impression (Art Instittute of Chicago).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Christ as the Man of SorrowsChrist as the Man of SorrowsChrist as the Man of SorrowsChrist as the Man of SorrowsChrist as the Man of Sorrows

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.