Vission of St Francis by Jean Ribault 1797
Vision of Saint Francis – Jean Ribault, 1797
(after José de Ribera, c. 1636–1638)
This print is a reproductive engraving based on José de Ribera’s famous painting Vision of Saint Francis. Ribault closely follows Ribera’s composition: Saint Francis is shown receiving the stigmata, supported by an angel as he gazes upward in ecstasy. The dramatic contrast of light and shadow, characteristic of Ribera’s intense tenebrist style, is translated here into a refined network of black-and-white tonal engraving, giving the scene a solemn and contemplative power.
The engraving was produced as part of the work of the Company for the Engraving of Paintings from the Royal Palaces, one of the major artistic enterprises of the Spanish Enlightenment in the second half of the 18th century. This institution sought to reproduce and disseminate masterpieces from the Spanish royal collections, making them accessible to a broader cultured public. Among the engravers who participated in this project was Francisco de Goya, who in 1778 produced his own engravings after Velázquez for the same patronage network.
Ribault’s print belongs to that same tradition of transmitting the image of great Spanish works through printmaking. Though monochromatic, its delicate gradations of shadow, crisp linear definition, and faithful attention to Ribera’s emotional intensity retain the solemnity of the original oil painting, allowing the devotional impact of Saint Francis’s mystical vision to endure in a new medium and era.
Comments
Post a Comment