This masterful print exploits the characteristics of an engraved line, using its swelling and tapering to create an image of the Sudarium, the Veil of Veronica that miraculously revealed a perfect impression of the face of Christ. Spiraling outward from the nose, Christ’s features are formed almost entirely from a single, continuous line. Mellan’s mature prints are characterized by a unique manner that relies heavily on curving parallel lines in place of the standard technique of crosshatching to show tone. In this, perhaps his most important engraving, the artist demonstrates the virtuosity of this technique, varying line thickness to show light and shadow. Christ is depicted crowned with thorns, as droplets of blood dirty his face beneath both eyes. Although his brow is furrowed and his eyelids are heavy, Christ appears almost serene, his parted full lips suggesting more the sense of a Baroque “speaking likeness” than the Son of God’s physical exhaustion or pain. Throughout, concentric circles create the sheen of the veil’s fabric.
The inscription at bottom translates to “the unique one made by one” and “like no other.” Devised by the abbé Michel de Marolles, a collector of prints and close friend of Mellan, this ingenious conceit alludes to three ideas: the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation, in which God became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary; the miraculous image of Christ created on Veronica’s cloth; and the originality of Mellan’s engraving itself.
Claire Spadafora Baes
2024
