Doctor Faustus Conjuring Mephistophilis

Artist Eric Ravilious (London, England, 1903 - 1942)

Date1929

Mediumwood engraving on paper

ClassificationsPrints

DimensionsPlate Size: 17.7 x 12.6cm

AcquisitionPresented in 1951 by Rex Nan Kivell.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG006774

Keywords

About MeRavilious made a trial block to illustrate an edition of the Elizabethan play Dr Faustus, written by Christopher Marlowe. In the event, this book did not come to fruition and the engraving was published in 'The Legion Book' in 1929 instead.

Faustus, a scholar, dabbles in necromancy and summons a Devil named Mephistophilis, who persuades Faustus to sell his soul to Lucifer.
In this image, two linked dramas are enacted inside a timber framed building, the geometry of the setting influenced by Renaissance paintings that Ravilious had seen in Italy. A good angel confronts a bad angel, outlined by dark shadows, in the upper storey. Beneath, Faustus inside the magic circle conjures up the devil.