Pope Innocent X 1903

Timothy Cole made this image of Pope Innocent X, and what’s so interesting about it is that he hasn’t painted it, but instead, engraved it. Engraving is so different from painting. It's much slower. I imagine Cole patiently carving into the surface, the image gradually emerging from a series of precise lines and marks. Look at how he has captured the texture of the Pope's robes, or the stern expression on his face. You can see that he must have thought a lot about the original painting. The light and shadow almost make the Pope feel like he is actually present. Cole was part of a generation of artists who were fascinated by the Old Masters. He would have spent hours studying their techniques, trying to understand how they achieved such incredible effects. It’s almost like Cole is in conversation with the painter, copying, recasting, and rethinking the nature of the painted image. Ultimately, art inspires art, with each new act of making, a continuation of art history.