The Stigmatization of Saint Francis c. 1760s

This is "The Stigmatization of Saint Francis" by Johan Baptist Enzensberger, created around the 1760s, with pen and black ink, brush and grey wash on paper. The drawing immediately strikes the eye with its soaring verticality, organized within an arched composition. Enzensberger uses a dynamic play of light and shadow to convey the ethereal nature of the scene. Notice how the artist masterfully employs diagonal lines to direct our gaze, from the divine figure of the seraph above to the prostrate Saint Francis below. These lines not only structure the composition but also suggest the transmission of divine energy. The figures are rendered with delicate brushstrokes, imbuing them with a sense of weightlessness. But what might this ethereal presentation convey? Perhaps that spiritual events transcend earthly materiality. Consider the very act of stigmatization as a challenge to traditional notions of bodily integrity and suffering. Art does not offer fixed answers, but rather provides a space for contemplation.