Christ as the Man of Sorrows Between Two Angels

Christ as the Man of Sorrows Between Two Angels

Israhel van Meckenem

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

As one of the earliest Northern printmakers to sign his name to his works, Israhel van Meckenem was acutely aware of the peculiarities of a market for prints. He often made images that were at once familiar or popular and, at the same time, innovative. Dated about 1500, this engraving is van Meckenem's most technically accomplished. Christ as the Man of Sorrows Between Two Angels is also inventive in that it portrays a fictitious moment that combines several episodes from Christ's Passion. Christ is shown as the Man of Sorrows rising from his stone coffin with his stigmata; but he is set within a Gothic interior, probably an ecclesiastical space, with its three windows signifying the Trinity. The emphasis is not on the historical accuracy of the narrative, but on the physical and emotional suffering of its protagonists. The inscription, taken from Isaiah 33:7, reads: "The angels of peace weep bitterly." The angels-one of whom cries, while the other touches his chest-demonstrate to the beholder the appropriate reaction to seeing the tortured body of Christ.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Christ as the Man of Sorrows Between Two AngelsChrist as the Man of Sorrows Between Two AngelsChrist as the Man of Sorrows Between Two AngelsChrist as the Man of Sorrows Between Two AngelsChrist as the Man of Sorrows Between Two Angels

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.