The Sick Summoning a Bishop Saint - Anne Claude de Thubières, comte de Caylus

An eighteenth-century etching by the comte de Caylus, reproducing a religious drawing by Hyacinthe Brandi.

This etching by the comte de Caylus reproduces a drawing by the Italian Baroque painter Hyacinthe Brandi. The composition depicts a miraculous scene where a bishop saint appears amidst clouds to offer intercession for the afflicted. Below, a group of suffering figures look upward in supplication. The artist employs a fluid, calligraphic line to define the forms, capturing the dramatic tension characteristic of the period. The figures are arranged in a tiered structure, separating the celestial realm from the earthly plane.

Caylus was a significant figure in the eighteenth-century French art world, known for his antiquarian interests and his efforts to document the collections of his contemporaries. This print was produced as part of a larger project to catalogue the drawings held in the collection of Pierre Crozat, a financier and patron of the arts. The etching technique allows for a sense of spontaneity, mimicking the gestural quality of the original pen and ink study. The contrast between the ethereal, cloud-borne saint and the grounded, desperate figures below creates a clear narrative focus. The work reflects the interest in Italian masters that permeated French artistic circles during the early Enlightenment. By translating Brandi's work into print, Caylus ensured that such compositions were accessible to a wider audience of collectors and students of art history. The print remains a record of the aesthetic preferences of the Crozat circle, demonstrating a preference for the expressive, emotive qualities of Italian religious art.