RED PENITENT – French 18th-century engraving, Italian confraternity

Red Penitent in Italy
Original etching, hand-enhanced with watercolor
France, circa 1780–1790
Dimensions : 41 cm × 26 cm
Size : 16.2" X 10.2"
Condition : excellent – laid paper, intact margins, clearly visible plate mark all around

Rare and spectacular representation of an Italian red penitent, a member of a confraternity devoted to penance and the expiatory rites of Holy Week.
Clad in a full scarlet habit, with a pointed hood pierced with two openings for the eyes, the brother embodies the extreme fervor of religious Baroque devotion: the blood of Christ, human suffering, and the terror of salvation.

Under the trembling light of nocturnal processions, these red figures advanced in silence, holding crosses and torches, in a slow choreography of repentance.
Their violent, almost flesh-like color gave rise to a fascination mingled with dread: it was said that these penitents recalled blood-covered martyrs, or souls expiating their sins in the flames of Purgatory.
The people, seized by these silent processions, saw in their glowing march a foreboding of the Last Judgment.

The work, engraved by Jacques-Charles Bar, a major interpreter of European religious orders, combines rigor of line with dramatic intensity.
The period watercolor enhancement heightens the brilliance of the red, the color of sacrifice and fear intertwined with faith.
The clearly visible plate mark attests to an original 18th-century impression printed on a hand press.
Provenance : private European collection.

A work of rare visual and symbolic power, at the crossroads of devotion and the macabre.
Ideal for a cabinet of curiosities, a sacred art collection, or a gothic interior inspired by Italian Baroque processions.