St. Gaëtan, Founder of the Theatines 1600 - 1688

Curator: Looking at Claude Mellan's engraving, “St. Gaëtan, Founder of the Theatines," created sometime between 1600 and 1688…I can’t help but think, “How exquisitely spare!” Editor: It gives me this strange sense of weightlessness, of rising above earthly things. The delicate lines somehow convey monumental importance. But, tell me, what am I looking at? Curator: We see Saint Gaëtan kneeling, presenting the Christ Child, who is offered to him by the Virgin Mary. They are floating amidst billowy clouds. The heavens are literally opening up here. Editor: Ah, those clouds! The iconography is immediately compelling, almost like they are emerging from another realm! Is it Mary who presents to us an immaculate innocence. Tell me more, where would an image such as this hang and where does Mellan show the artist’s innovation. Curator: It is in Mary who bestows this precious gift of innocence and Saint Gaetan who kneels in the Baroque period posture. An engraving like this would have served as a devotional image. But, you’re right to focus on the line! What's mind-blowing is Mellan’s pure line engraving technique, avoiding cross-hatching to modulate tone. A real revolution! Editor: So, all these varying tones created solely by the thickness and density of parallel lines? It seems like it could easily veer into graphic territory but, remarkably, avoids doing so. What power, the angel at the top is more rendered. This image speaks of purity. Do you know how Mellan could produce that? Curator: Exactly. Light becomes form through rigorous precision, as if faith itself dictated each stroke. I imagine hours contemplating what one can leave unsaid. He's whispering something that would be better felt as silence in an ocean of chaos. Editor: He whispers in straight lines which becomes the visual prayer which moves the heart to receive purity. Seeing how the image functions as a way to devotion shows us all the intention behind Mellan’s creative work. It almost seems alchemical! I am glad to pause at this line and allow my eye to wonder at it. Thank you! Curator: The Baroque period always allows one to sit in their inner devotion for something more. What an engraving this has been! Thank you.