Art Institute of Chicago

Saint Christopher

Wallerant Vaillant (Dutch, 1623-1677)

Date

1665/77

Medium

Mezzotint in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

Netherlands

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

In this print, Wallerand Vaillant articulates landscape, figure, and atmosphere with the perfect subtlety of light. Mezzotint was a relatively new intaglio process in which the artist burnished out highlights and gradations, effectively erasing the darkness, from a completely roughened copper plate that would print black if left untouched. In the final state the artist added stars, as well as more definition to the clouds and landscape, and intensified the highlights of the figures and their respective objects (the staff of the Saint, and the world held by the Christ-child). The result is a tonally richer composition.

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