Raising of Lazarus

Raising of Lazarus

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print conveys Castiglione’s distinctive technique, including a rich tenebrism (suggestion of darkness) inspired by the etchings of Rembrandt. The subject is the Biblical miracle in which Jesus revives Lazarus of Bethany, who has been dead and buried for four days. Castiglione’s method skillfully complements his conception of the remarkable event. The torch held by onlookers is outshone by the radiance of Christ at right, but a dim light also appears around Lazarus’s outstretched hands as he returns to life.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.