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
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.
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