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Giorgio Ghisi

The Vision of Ezekiel

1554
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
41 × 68 cm (16.1 × 26.8 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

This seemingly macabre print haunted by symbols of death—skeletons, tombs, and decaying corpses—actually refers to the Christian belief in resurrection and eternal life. In the Bible’s Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel describes being transported in a vision to a valley full of dry bones, where he receives a revelation from God that the dead shall come back to life. God’s words are inscribed in the banderole held aloft by the winged cherubs. Giorgio Ghisi based this ambitiously large print on a design by his friend Giovanni Battista Bertani, court artist to the Dukes of Mantua in Italy.

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