Chapter 8 Considering the Viewer in Prints of Michelangelo’s Risen Christ: The Cases of Beatrizet and Matham
In: Sculpture in Print, 1480–1600Search for other papers by Bernadine Barnes in
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Abstract
Printmakers who create reproductions of sculpture make many choices about the way their subjects are presented. They may place the sculpture in an evocative setting or select a particular view of the three-dimensional work. Lighting or textures may emphasize materiality. Sometimes these choices are made to appeal to a particular type of viewer or collector. When the subject of the print is itself a work of art that is composed and adjusted with viewers in mind, the situation becomes even more complex. This essay compares the choices made by two engravers, Nicolas Beatrizet and Jacob Matham, who reproduced Michelangelo’s Risen Christ. Whereas Beatrizet presents a more “objective” rendering from an ideal viewpoint, and emphasizes the materials of the sculpture, Matham’s engraving is a more dramatic, but less accurate, reproduction that gives a greater sense of the a viewer’s place before the sculpture. Contextual information about the two printmakers’ other productions helps to interpret the choices they made.