The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of March 15, 2026
St. Francis
1638
(French, 1598–1688)
Sheet: 47.6 x 31.6 cm (18 3/4 x 12 7/16 in.); Matted: 60.5 x 44.1 cm (23 13/16 x 17 3/8 in.); Image: 44.6 x 28.9 cm (17 9/16 x 11 3/8 in.)
James Parmelee Fund 2023.159
Catalogue raisonné: Montaiglon 71; Inventaire du fonds français (XVIIe siècle) 73
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
Notice how the engraver portrayed the cloak of St. Francis with patches of parallel, swelled lines placed at different angles.Description
The French engraver Claude Mellan spent time in Rome, where he developed a unique engraving style that uses simplified linear patterns and swelled lines to create optical, almost abstract effects. He made this image St. Francis, one of several featuring saints in the wilderness, just after he returned to Paris. The engraver’s inventive patterns of lines cross at small angles, creating moiré effects, so that the surface seems to shimmer.- Private collection, France?–2023(C.G. Boerner, New York and Dusseldorf), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OHDecember 4, 2023–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- {{cite web|title=St. Francis|url=false|author=Claude Mellan|year=1638|access-date=15 March 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.159