Kneeling Pilgrim with Cross and Book

Kneeling Pilgrim with Cross and Book — Johann Friedrich Overbeck. 1826.

Medium: Etching on white wove paper. Dimensions: Plate: 11.3 × 7.5 cm (4 1/2 × 3 in.); Sheet: 14.2 × 10.2 cm (5 5/8 × 4 1/16 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

Executed during Johann Friedrich Overbeck’s stay in Rome, Kneeling Pilgrim with Cross and Book provides the viewer with an insight into the artist’s spiritual conviction. Overbeck, a founding member of the Brotherhood of Saint Luke, or the Nazarene movement, viewed art as a way to regenerate religiosity in society. The Nazarenes showed their devotion to God by adapting the styles and ideas of the Renaissance. Overbeck’s sophisticated use of etching, exemplified by delicate cross-hatching and fine lines, produced an image that evokes religious depictions of the past, thus promoting traditional Christian sentiments to an increasingly materialistic society.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.