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The Blinding of Elymas

Print
1855 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This picture represents Saint Paul's first miracle, performed in the presence of the Proconsul Sergius Paulus. Elymas, who was adviser to the Proconsul, and had previously ordered Paul to be whipped for his Christian faith, was struck blind by words spoken to him by Saint Paul. This event led to the Proconsul's conversion to Christianity.

The so-called Raphael Cartoons, from which the image of this print is derived, are seven full size designs for tapestries by the great Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). They illustrate passages from the Bible concerning the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. None of them is smaller than ten feet high by thirteen feet wide. They belong to Her Majesty the Queen and have been on loan to this museum since 1865. The earliest print relating to the Raphael Cartoons dates from 1516, the year in which Raphael received final payment for the commission. It inaugurates an extraordinary case study in the history of printmaking, stretching over more than four hundred and fifty years and across a wide range of printmaking techniques.

George Baxter is famous for having developed a method of printing in full colour. In a total output of three hundred and seventy seven prints, only fifteen, including his prints of the Cartoons, are so-called Baxterotypes. Printed in shades of brown, they simulate photographs and the name echoes the word daguerreotype, the earliest photographic process, announced in 1839. George Baxter's premonition that the depiction of works of art by means of prints made by human hand would soon be facing a challenge from the new photographic processes, was correct. His simulated photographs of the Cartoons predate the first actual photographs of the Cartoons by only three years.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • The Blinding of Elymas (popular title)
  • Elymas the Sorcerer Struck Blind (popular title)
  • Raphael Cartoons (generic title)
  • The Conversion of Sergius Paulus (popular title)
  • The Conversion of the Proconsul (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Baxterotype
Brief description
Print by George Baxter after Raphael, 'Elymas the Sorcerer Struck Blind,' 1 of 5 prints from a set of 7 depicting the Raphael Cartoons, Baxterotype, England, 1855
Physical description
In an ornate interior with marble floor and columns. Elymas is front right of the image, Saint Paul front left holding a book decorated on the cover with a Cross. The Proconsul L Sergius Paulus sits on his throne on a platform wearing a laurel crown, and surrounded by followers, two of whom hold large scrolls. The platform has stone carving, a military trophy decoration. Through the right arch in the background a hilly landscape can be seen.

On a mount with an embossed seal.

This print is in the same direction as the cartoon from which it is derived and is a faithful reproduction in compositional detail, except that there is no inscription on the stone base of Sergius Paulus' platform.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.7cm
  • Width: 20.6cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
Gift - Miss C W B (inscribed in red ink)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Francis William Baxter
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceBible, Acts, 13
Summary
This picture represents Saint Paul's first miracle, performed in the presence of the Proconsul Sergius Paulus. Elymas, who was adviser to the Proconsul, and had previously ordered Paul to be whipped for his Christian faith, was struck blind by words spoken to him by Saint Paul. This event led to the Proconsul's conversion to Christianity.

The so-called Raphael Cartoons, from which the image of this print is derived, are seven full size designs for tapestries by the great Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). They illustrate passages from the Bible concerning the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. None of them is smaller than ten feet high by thirteen feet wide. They belong to Her Majesty the Queen and have been on loan to this museum since 1865. The earliest print relating to the Raphael Cartoons dates from 1516, the year in which Raphael received final payment for the commission. It inaugurates an extraordinary case study in the history of printmaking, stretching over more than four hundred and fifty years and across a wide range of printmaking techniques.

George Baxter is famous for having developed a method of printing in full colour. In a total output of three hundred and seventy seven prints, only fifteen, including his prints of the Cartoons, are so-called Baxterotypes. Printed in shades of brown, they simulate photographs and the name echoes the word daguerreotype, the earliest photographic process, announced in 1839. George Baxter's premonition that the depiction of works of art by means of prints made by human hand would soon be facing a challenge from the new photographic processes, was correct. His simulated photographs of the Cartoons predate the first actual photographs of the Cartoons by only three years.
Associated object
ROYAL LOANS.8 (Source)
Bibliographic references
  • Lewis, Courtney. George Baxter, the Picture Printer. 1924.
  • Shearman, John. Raphael's Cartoons in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen and the tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. London, Phaidon, 1972.
  • Fermor, Sharon. The Raphael Tapestry Cartoons: Narrative, Decoration, Design. London, Scala Books in association with the Victoria and Albery Museum.
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1932. London: HMSO, 1933
  • Lewis, C. T. Courtney. George Baxter (colour printer) his life and work: a manual for collectors. London: S. Low, Marston & Co. Ltd., 1908. cat. no. 248
Collection
Accession number
E.2931-1932

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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