Accession Number
1985/2.15

Title
A Spanish Good Friday

Artist(s)
Sir Muirhead Bone

Artist Nationality
British (modern)

Object Creation Date
1925, printed 1985

Medium & Support
drypoint on wove paper

Dimensions
22 1/2 in x 15 in (57.1 cm x 38.1 cm);28 1/16 in x 22 1/16 in (71.28 cm x 56.04 cm);22 1/2 in x 14 15/16 in (57.2 cm x 38 cm);12 5/8 in x 8 1/8 in (32 cm x 20.6 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Thomas DeKornfeld

Subject matter
Considered one of his major works, this drypoint was made by Bone when he first visited Spain in 1925. The procession pictured took place on Good Friday during Holy Week, or Semana Santa, the week before Easter and the most important religious period of the year. Processions featuring hooded figures are held on the streets of almost every Spanish city.
Bone and his wife would go on to publish a book called Old Spain combining his images of Spain just before the Spanish Civil War with her text.
The slash marks indicate that this image was printed from a "cancelled" copperplate, after the full edition had been printed. 

Physical Description
In this strongly vertical composition, a street crowded with groups of people and individuals—all rendered in silhouette and casting long shadows—recedes into space, seen from above. The street is lined with two- and, at most, four-story buildings on both sides. A hilly landscape rises behind the buildings, and a stormy-looking sky occupies the top portion of the image. In the right foreground, a woman is seen from the back as she stands on a small balcony looking down the street at a procession underway. The procession follows a banner depicting a saint, and proceeds towards the viewer. Some of the people in the street wear pointed hoods over their heads.
The image is covered with diagonal slash marks. The print shows incredibly rich textural effects as a result of intense drypoint scraping, extensive biting in the darkest areas, and printing on very thick wove paper. 
Signed in the plate, l.l., recto, "Bone / 19[?]5"

Primary Object Classification
Print

Primary Object Type
intaglio print

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Easter
Figures
Picturesque, the
Roman Catholicism
Spanish (culture or style)
Urban life
buildings
cancellation proofs
cast shadows
ceremonial costume
modern and contemporary art
processions
streets
townscapes (representations)
walking
world religions