GREY PENITENT OF THE THIRD ORDER OF SAINT FRANCIS – ORIGINAL 18TH-CENTURY ENGRAVING

Grey Penitent of the Third Order of Saint Francis
Original etching, hand-colored in watercolor
France, circa 1780–1790
Dimensions: 41 cm × 26 cm
Size : 16.2" × 10.2"
Condition: excellent – laid paper, intact margins, copperplate mark clearly visible all around the image

Striking and rare representation of a Franciscan grey penitent, an austere figure from the confraternities of the Third Order of Saint Francis, which were very active in Italy and in southern France during the 18th century.

The brother wears a brown-grey habit, cinctured with a rope, with a pointed hood concealing his face.
This attire, of an almost funerary sobriety, evokes ashes, dust, and flesh destined for death.
These penitents walked in silence during processions, barefoot, sometimes flagellating themselves, reciting prayers for the souls in Purgatory.
In the flickering light of candles, their grey silhouettes seemed to emerge from another world: that of total renunciation, stripping away, and penance carried to the point of pain.

Their color, neither black nor white, was that of earth and bones, a symbol of humility and decomposition.
They reminded all that human glory resolves into dust — that grace is born only from the death of the body.
This confraternity, heir to Franciscan rigor, transformed poverty into ritual and penance into sacred spectacle: the procession became a march toward the tomb.

Work by the engraver Jacques-Charles Bar, a French master of the 18th century, renowned for his representations of religious orders and European confraternities.
The print, finely hand-enhanced with watercolor, retains period colors of remarkable freshness.
The copperplate mark, clearly visible all around, attests to an original impression pulled on a hand press.
Provenance: private European collection.

A piece of fascinating austerity, at the crossroads of faith and the macabre.
Ideal for a cabinet of curiosities, a collection of Baroque religious art, or a Gothic interior.
A powerful testimony to Franciscan mysticism pushed to self-effacement — to dust.