The Resurrection

Philips Galle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this interpretation of a dramatic moment in Christian scripture, engraved by Phillips Galle and published by Hieronymus Cock, Christ appears resurrected after his death, ascending from his tomb toward heaven. On the ground below, soldiers fall in disbelief. An angel floats above, having just opened the tomb. Galle engraved the compsoition on the basis of an ink and wash drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.[1] The engraved version of the image relies on dramatic chiaroscurro lighting effects to visualize the drama of the biblical narrative. Another impression of the print in The Met's collection (see 64.635) has been hand-colored wih opaque watercolor, gold, and silver. - Olivia Dill, May 23, 2023 [1] For a reproduction of the drawing and a discussion of its translation into print, see Nadine Orenstsein, ed., Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of art and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), cat. nos. 96 and 97, pp. 221-224.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art