1587-1590

The Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor

Italian, c. 1555 - 1629

Procaccini’s large print imagines the transfiguration of Christ, in which three apostles experience a vision of Christ in conversation with the prophets Moses and Elijah. In the biblical description of the miracle, Christ’s “face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” To generate this effect, Procaccini rendered the figure of Christ using short strokes and dots (called stipple) without crosshatching or continuous contour lines. There appears to have been a technical problem, however, as the lines of Christ’s face did not etch deeply enough in the plate to print well. His face is so faint that only the barest of features can be distinguished, offering viewers a chance to share in the blinding experience with the disciples as they gaze upon Christ.