The Risen Christ between Saints Andrew and Longinus

Andrea Mantegna

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print belongs to a core group of seven engravings that traditionally have been attributed to the great Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna. Rich effects of tone and modeling are achieved through parallel diagonal hatching, so finely rendered in this print that the lines appear to dissolve. Strong contours, which are as varied and malleable as a pen line, powerfully carve out the figures. The extraordinary dexterity with which the engraving tool is handled separates this group of seven from other prints produced in the same "Mantegnesque" vein, such as the Four Dancing Muses now thought to be a collaboration between Gian Marco Cavalli and Mantegna (see 20.5.3). The execution of this print, which depicts the Roman soldier, Longinus, who pierced Christ's side, is probably connected to the founding of the Church of Sant'Andrea in Mantua (1472), which housed a relic of Christ's blood.

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