A Spanish Good Friday
Sir Muirhead Bone; Takeshi Takahara
Description
Subject Matter:
Considered one of his major works, this drypoint was made by Bone when he first visited Spain in 1925. The procession pictured took place on Good Friday during Holy Week, or Semana Santa, the week before Easter and the most important religious period of the year. Processions featuring hooded figures are held on the streets of almost every Spanish city.
Bone and his wife would go on to publish a book called Old Spain combining his images of Spain just before the Spanish Civil War with her text.
The slash marks indicate that this image was printed from a "cancelled" copperplate, after the full edition had been printed.
Physical Description:
In this strongly vertical composition, a street crowded with groups of people and individuals—all rendered in silhouette and casting long shadows—recedes into space, seen from above. The street is lined with two- and, at most, four-story buildings on both sides. A hilly landscape rises behind the buildings, and a stormy-looking sky occupies the top portion of the image. In the right foreground, a woman is seen from the back as she stands on a small balcony looking down the street at a procession underway. The procession follows a banner depicting a saint, and proceeds towards the viewer. Some of the people in the street wear pointed hoods over their heads.
The image is covered with diagonal slash marks. The print shows incredibly rich textural effects as a result of intense drypoint scraping, extensive biting in the darkest areas, and printing on very thick wove paper.
Signed in the plate, l.l., recto, "Bone / 19[?]5"
Usage Rights:
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