Copper Printing Plate of the Crucifixion by Alessandro Badiale (Bologna, 1626–1671)
Italy, mid-17th century
Technique
Etching on copper, reversed for printing.
Measurements
11.5 × 8.7 cm.
Description
A finely worked copper printing plate depicting the Crucifixion, etched with the figure of Christ upon the Cross flanked by the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist. Christ is shown crowned with thorns and with rays of divine light encircling His head, His emaciated body emphasised by the etched parallel hatching and cross-hatching of the drapery and torso. To either side, the Virgin and Saint John stand in attitudes of sorrowful devotion, their haloes rendered in radiating strokes. The composition is set against a distant cityscape with towers and walls, suggestive of Jerusalem, enlivened by the rhythmic incised lines of the ground and clouds.
The plate bears at the lower left the ligatured monogram A·B, followed by the letter F, engraved in mirror image for printing. This monogram, characteristic of Alessandro Badiale, abbreviates Alessandro Badiale fecit. Badiale, active in Bologna and later Modena, was a painter and etcher known for devotional subjects after Flaminio Torri and Carlo Cignani. His etched works are distinguished by their clear contours, luminous hatching, and a direct devotional clarity suited to the circulation of small prints.
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