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Johann Friedrich Overbeck

Kneeling Pilgrim with Cross and Book

1826
Etching on white wove paper
11.3 × 7.5 cm (4.4 × 3 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Executed during Johann Friedrich Overbeck’s stay in Rome, Kneeling Pilgrim with Cross and Book provides the viewer with an insight into the artist’s spiritual conviction. Overbeck, a founding member of the Brotherhood of Saint Luke, or the Nazarene movement, viewed art as a way to regenerate religiosity in society. The Nazarenes showed their devotion to God by adapting the styles and ideas of the Renaissance. Overbeck’s sophisticated use of etching, exemplified by delicate cross-hatching and fine lines, produced an image that evokes religious depictions of the past, thus promoting traditional Christian sentiments to an increasingly materialistic society.

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