Transfiguratie: 'en in Jezus Christus, Zijn enige Zoon, onze Heer' 1579

Johann Sadeler I made this engraving, *Transfiguration*, in the late 16th century. It illustrates a key moment in the Gospels when Christ's divine nature is revealed to his disciples. Sadeler was Flemish, but he spent much of his career in the German states and Italy, serving the visual needs of the Catholic Church in the era of the Counter-Reformation. We see Christ floating in the air between Moses and Elias. This depiction reinforces the doctrine of the Trinity at a time when the Church's authority was under attack from Protestant reformers. The composition serves an overtly didactic purpose; it presents a moment of revelation and uses the visual codes of light and elevation to convey religious truth. The image also testifies to the institutional history of art, the rise of printmaking as a means to circulate devotional images widely. Art historians consult inventories of print shops and collections to better understand the role of this kind of work in early modern Europe.