Guido Da Montefeltre, Vom Teufel Erfaßt 1803

Joseph Anton Koch created this artwork, “Guido Da Montefeltre, Vom Teufel Erfaßt”, using etching to masterful effect. Notice how Koch uses monochrome shading to create drama and a sense of the sublime, playing with light and shadow. The composition is divided vertically, with celestial and infernal realms battling for a man's soul. Koch constructs a semiotic stage where figures act as signs: angels represent purity, devils embody depravity, and the dying man symbolizes moral conflict. The sharp contrast between the ethereal angels and the grotesque demon underscores a philosophical struggle between good and evil. The use of linear perspective draws the eye upwards, reinforcing a hierarchical structure in which the spiritual triumphs over the earthly. This etching, with its precisely rendered lines and dramatic chiaroscuro, invites us to ponder the artwork's formal beauty, while also contemplating its engagement with questions of morality and redemption.