The Withered Tree 1696

Crescenzio Onofri’s etching, "The Withered Tree," captures a landscape in delicate lines, likely created in the late 17th or early 18th century. The monochromatic palette focuses attention on the structural elements within the composition. The artist uses line to create tonal variations. The texture is rendered through dense cross-hatching in the foreground, which gradually lightens towards the distant, smoky mountains. This is achieved by varying the proximity of lines to one another. The barren tree dominates the composition, its form twisted as it echoes the ruggedness of the landscape. Considered from a semiotic viewpoint, the withered tree and tumultuous sky might function as signs pointing beyond their literal representation. They may hint at themes of decay, transformation, and the sublime power of nature that destabilizes established meanings about life.