Dead Christ with Angels

Dead Christ with Angels by Édouard Manet French, 1832-1883, is a profound print created between 1866 and 1867. This image is rendered through the meticulous process of etching and aquatint in black on ivory laid paper. The composition depicts the somber moment immediately following Christ’s death, attended by two winged angels, a standard motif in religious iconography. Manet based this print on his controversial 1864 painting, also titled Dead Christ with Angels, which had received harsh criticism when it was exhibited at the Paris Salon. The decision to execute the image as a print allowed Manet to further refine the composition and disseminate the work to a wider audience in France.

Manet was deeply interested in experimenting with reproductive media, recognizing the power of prints to circulate modern artistic ideas outside the rigid structure of official exhibitions. The combination of etching, used to create the sharp contours and detailing of the figures, and aquatint, which lends rich tonal variations and shadows, highlights dramatic contrast. Manet’s treatment of the body avoids traditional idealization, emphasizing a sense of earthly realism and weight that distinguished his work from established academic standards. This piece belongs to a pivotal period in the 1860s when the artist was consciously challenging the conventions of French religious and historical painting.

As a significant example of 19th-century French printmaking, this work remains crucial to understanding Manet’s transition toward modernist sensibilities. Prints like this often became integral components of available collections, with many early impressions existing now in the public domain. This exemplary impression of the print is housed in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, illustrating the ongoing shift toward modern artistic interpretation in the second half of the 19th century.