. . .And He Discerns an Arid, Knoll-Covered Plain (. . . Et il distingue une plaine aride et mamelonneuse)) (plate I) from La Tentation de Saint-Antoine
Odilon Redon
French, 1840–1916
1896, published 1938
A delicate lithograph by Odilon Redon from his illustrated edition of La Tentation de Saint-Antoine that aims to render the saint’s vision as a poetic, arid plain of hummocks and cliffs.
Muted, silvery tones and whisper‑fine lines create a dreamlike landscape of rounded knolls and steep rock faces receding into a luminous, misty distance, inviting quiet, contemplative looking.
Redon’s plates helped transform illustration into Symbolist, psychological landscape—using subtle lithographic effects and chine appliqué to expand the expressive possibilities of printmaking and influence modern treatments of vision and the unconscious.
Medium
Lithograph from an illustrated book with 22 lithographs on chine appliqué and 21 wood engravings (including wrapper and table of plates)
Dimensions
composition: 9 5/8 × 7 11/16" (24.5 × 19.6 cm); page: 16 15/16 × 13" (43 × 33 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Louis E. Stern Collection
Accession
1030.1964.3
Palette
Exhibitions