No. IV "Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me." From the Suite: (Seven Last Words of Christ)

Letterio Calapai

This abstract, large-format image is as much an illustration of a biblical passage as it is a stand-alone work. Atelier 17 printmaker Letterio Calapi uses bold, simple shapes that are honed by textures reminiscent of ancient stonework or layered, compacted earth. The only color afforded this dynamic, if solemn, aquatint is the specter of sunlight and its reflection in the eye of Christ, as a dove, flies away from his son in a symbol of God’s abandonment of Christ’s soul.

Calapi often worked in Biblical themes and the “seven sayings” is a theme that has often been revisited by scholars and artists, who ponder the true meaning of the words. This suite in its entirety and the prints individually are exemplary representations of religion as seen through the lens of mid-century Abstract Expressionism, and of Calapi’s own mastery of the intaglio technique. Here, he has illustrated Matthew 27:46: “And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?".