Woman (Femme) from Le Siège de Jérusalem: Grande tentation céleste de Saint Matorel

Woman (Femme) from Le Siège de Jérusalem: Grande tentation céleste de Saint Matorel by Pablo Picasso is a powerful example of the artist’s engagement with graphic arts during the high period of Analytic Cubism. Created in 1913 and published in 1914 as part of an illustrated book, this print employs the difficult and expressive intaglio techniques of etching and drypoint. The print is one of three drypoints, two of which incorporated additional etching, utilized to illustrate the poetry of Max Jacob.

The resulting image captures a fragmented, abstracted representation of the feminine form, characteristic of Picasso’s geometric explorations during this Spanish cultural period. The heavy lines, created by scratching directly into the metal plate in the drypoint process, lend the figure an intense, almost sculptural density, contrasting with the lighter, more controlled etching components. By confining his formal analysis to black and white, Picasso focuses the viewer’s attention on line, plane, and psychological intensity, moving beyond color to define volume. This work serves as a crucial document of how the artist translated complex Cubist ideas into the specialized discipline of printmaking.

This particular print, along with the accompanying volume, is preserved in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), representing a pivotal moment in the history of the modern illustrated book. The publication date of 1914 places the collaboration immediately preceding the First World War, an era of profound artistic and social transformation. Today, high-resolution images of these historic prints, created during the crucial 1913, published 1914 period, are often made available through institutional digitization efforts, allowing them to enter the realm of scholarship and sometimes the public domain for educational reference. Picasso’s contribution to this volume reaffirmed his standing not only as a master painter but also as a profound innovator in graphic arts.