The Dead Christ with Angels

1866–67

The Dead Christ with Angels, 1866–67. Edouard Manet (French, 1832–1883). Etching and aquatint; image: 32.9 x 38 cm (12 15/16 x 14 15/16 in.); plate: 39.4 x 32.9 cm (15 1/2 x 12 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1961.151 Edouard Manet often reinterpreted his own paintings as prints, using various techniques to bring his work to a broader audience. Here, he relied on a combination of aquatint and repeating marks to realistically suggest Christ’s lifeless body in the tomb where he was placed following his crucifixion. The figure’s vacant gaze and the deep shadows behind him led critics to deride the work as grotesque in its realism. The etching was the largest Manet made and, perhaps as a result, only a few impressions—including the one seen here—were made from the plate. This etching was the largest that Édouard Manet made.