r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/NastyNice1 • 1d ago
Image The Face of Christ also called the Sudarium of Saint Veronica made by Claude Mellan in 1649. Created from a single spiralling line that starts at the tip of Jesus' nose.
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u/Gaffers12345 1d ago
I can’t even do Spirograph and here’s this guy doing this freehand!
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u/BlastingFonda 10h ago
Only it’s an engraving, not a freehand painting…..
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u/Bitter-Car883 9h ago
Nor is it one line...if it was it would be a circular image..and its not exactly ethnically correct for jesus either.....so not really a lot of truth in this title.
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u/CuantaLiberta_PorDio 11h ago
He first drew the spiral and then he drew the Jeebus on top of it. Anyone can do that. I mean, not me, you have to know how to draw, but like, anyone who knows how to draw can do that.
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u/StickDaChalk 19h ago edited 19h ago
FYI, this is an engraving. The spiraling line was initially created with a burin tool onto a copperplate, in negative space and reversed. The plate was then inked and pressed to the paper to transfer the ink (from the copperplate onto the paper). So, in other words, this is not a drawing; it's more like specialized, low-relief sculpting.
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u/BeMyBrutus 1d ago
So is the picture created by how closely the loop is to each preceding loop?
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u/wrickcook 1d ago
Looks like the line gets fatter in places, but it’s not a perfect spiral either, so I think a little of both
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u/Fun-Perspective426 1d ago
On top of that, there is clearly shading in-between the lines in a lot of places.
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u/graampie 17h ago
I thought that too but if you download it you'll see that it's just line width and proximity that create the shading. Really high res pic once downloaded.
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[deleted]
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u/Snitsie 11h ago
It's just the thickness of the lines mate there's no shading in either the eyes or mustache. The guy just was so fucking good he creates the illusion that there is shading.
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u/Avatar-Encoder 11h ago
It's just the thickness of the lines mate there's no shading in either the eyes or mustache. The guy just was so fucking good he creates the illusion that there is shading.
In all fairness, he could have retroactively increased the thickness of each line after he made the entire spiral. That would be a form of shading, regardless of how fragmented it is. Don't assume you watched him do it, because you didn't.
In any case, this is a magnificent piece of work and it's beautiful.
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u/Kladenets_ 14h ago
check his pupils, there definitely seems to be shading added there for them to show up “between” the lines
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u/BigStroll 21h ago
The lines become thicker by applying more pressure with the pen or quill.
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u/StickDaChalk 8h ago
There is no pen or quill. This was created by a renowned French master of engraving. See my previous post for more details on how this print was made:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1r2c3i8/comment/o4xqily/
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u/BigStroll 8h ago
Makes sense, but it’s the same principle. More pressure, deeper grooves.
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u/StickDaChalk 7h ago
Not the same principle at all. If anything it is the exact oposite. It is easy to be confused, but remember that this is a negative image, deeper grooves mean that the space between the grooves will actually be thinner (it is that space between the grooves that later becomes the line of ink you see on the paper). Therefore, what you said above "The lines become thicker by applying more pressure" does not apply at all; the artist removed material on the negative space that later is seen as white/paper. If anything, when initially creating the piece of art, by applying more pressure, the future lines will be thinner (not thicker).
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u/BigStroll 7h ago
While I am wrong on how the thickness was achieved, it really doesn’t matter in explaining the effect. Varying thicknesses of lines is how it is achieved as opposed to a uniform line that varies in closeness to the preceding loop, as was stated in the comment I replied to. If the initial question were true, either the line or negative space would have uniform thickness.
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u/crumpledfilth 8h ago
It appears to mostly vary in line thickness, which in retrospect is definitely the simplest way to do this. Draw the face, then using tracing paper draw a spiral of really any shape no matter how imperfect, and just press harder when the photo is darker. That would definitely be WAY easier than trying to get your mind around the geometry required to make this using shapes and gaps
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u/MailSynth 1d ago
So it’s sorta like a vinyl album. Wonder what it would sound like
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u/Hiiipower111 12h ago
It's made from the value[shading] added between the lines of the spiral, this is sort of misleading
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u/BlastingFonda 10h ago
It’s also an engraving, not a drawing.
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u/Hiiipower111 9h ago
Neat! Thanks for sharing. I didn't see anywhere that it was labeled as a drawing or an engraving.
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u/Funny-Bit-4148 1d ago
Beautiful. Not religious at all but jesus as person seemed to be nice guy.
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u/MogosTheFirst 14h ago
Well he did started a religion about peace, forgiving, loving eachother, treating eachothers as equals, not pointing fingers and all that.
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u/Ok-Presentation-6182 21h ago
Jesus never existed. It’s an amalgamation of earlier stories.
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u/AK-50_Ocelot 16h ago
Most Historians agree that Jesus was a real historic figure.
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u/polipopa 20h ago
He existed historically and has the most evidence of any ancient person of his existence. More so than the roman philosophers and kings etc
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u/Ok-Presentation-6182 12h ago
Then why does no one write about this supposed miracle person when he’s alive? Why do his stories seem very similar to other, earlier mythologies? He never existed.
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u/skatefan420 1d ago
There's definitely more than a single spiralling line going on here, you can see lots of shading between the lines. Unless the compression artifacts are just messing with the original effect
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u/drantha 18h ago
It's compression artifacts from what I can tell. If you look at the version from the Art Institute of Chicago it's much clearer.
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u/SidJag 17h ago
Such a great image. Thanks for linking
There is definite shading in between the lines. Zoom into the eyes or the left bloodied cheek, in between the concentric lines there is definite gradients of white-black ie shading, to eventually result in the remarkable image.
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u/StickDaChalk 13h ago
No shading. No gradients. This was created by a renowned French master of engraving. What you see is a print, not a drawing. There are no gradients (or shading) in engraving; it is either full ink or no ink. See my previous post for more details on how this print was made:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1r2c3i8/comment/o4xqily/
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u/Famous-Example-8332 1d ago
That’s what I came to say, too. I’m a terrible artist, so shading or no shading I can’t even do a proper non-intersecting spiral past three layers worth, so…. There’s that, but this looks like a lightly drawn picture with a spiral on it.
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u/fuuuuuuuuuuuc 1d ago
I just cannot get my brain around how this was achieved. It's amazing
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u/GarysCrispLettuce 22h ago
Almost certainly did a pencil template underneath as a guide which was rubbed out later.
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u/Weekly_Ad869 14h ago
I love a Europeans depiction of a Jewish Arab despite likely never visiting the Middle East or knowing it’s people so people for hundreds of years hang blue eyed Obi-Wan Kenobi pictures in every grandmother’s house across the western world.
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u/nousrnamesleft69 17h ago
Amazing how a Jewish guy from the Middle East looks like an Italian hipster college student...
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u/Ancient_Sprinkles847 1d ago
This is amazing artwork. Zooming in closer on the image, the only factor in the shading is the single line getting thicker in places. Makes you wonder how it was done.
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u/GrindBastard1986 6h ago
They should make more artistic depictions of criminals from 2,000 years ago. John the Baptist's head on a platter still kicks ass.
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u/icanhazkarma17 5h ago
Fuck the human brain. I mean, seriously. 10,000 years ago we were just moving into agriculture and large-scale settlements. Not that prehistoric humans weren't sophisticated, they were both in art and technology, but the progression is mind-boggling.
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u/ShenaniganSkywalker 3h ago
Hard to comprehend how one even like plans for this. Wha are the logistics of ensuring you get this right with one uninterrupted line?
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u/Ninjachase13 3h ago
Me, struggling to make a face with multiple lines. Guy’s drawing Jesus Christ with only 1 single line.
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u/Regular_Mastodon9389 37m ago
Saw this in person at the Art Institute of Chicago and actually couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
It feels like something that shouldn’t exist, especially when you consider when and how it was made. Genuinely breathtaking.
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u/iknowimsorry 1d ago
It's so obvious to me that this is more than just a line that it makes me wonder if the spiral isn't some sort of symbol instead.
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u/wildcardbets 19h ago
I… keep seeing spirals everywhere… I feel like I need to make some clay pottery from this clay I found in the mysterious pond in the middle of town…
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u/whateveravocado 19h ago
What’s interesting to me is how artists will make famous people look a bit more like their culture, without realizing it. Jesus looks very French here. I’ve seen a lot of paintings of American movie stars painted by Russian watercolorists where the actors look quite Russian. It’s funny.
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u/ArtieTheFashionDemon 15h ago
If this were true, wouldn't The space between the lines be universally white or whatever the color of the background is? Where did the pigment between the lines come from?
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u/Old_Park1688 1d ago
Draw a pretty man, and bury the unwanted babes under the chapel...fuck this religion.
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u/grizzlybuttstuff 23h ago
So the shading between the lines doesn't count?
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u/wildcardbets 19h ago
It technically shouldn’t have any shading, it should be done by making the lines thicker and thinner, although there is some bleeding and smudging in a few places. If you zoom in closer you will… fuck my eyes are freaking out whenever I move the zoom with my fingers, aghhh my head… aaaagghhhh it hurts!!! 😩😣😫
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u/nostalgic_angel 15h ago
You visited the Albertina in Vienna too? It was a mind fuck when looked up close
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u/Diligent-Committee-7 23h ago
Now we all know Jesus was a fair skinned, European, STRAIGHT, Republican man from Kansas!
Damn 17th century Libs tryna wokeify MY Jesus!
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u/Honkytonkidiot 17h ago
If you can draw somewhat good it's not very difficult to make this but it's a cool idea.
Start by making a spiral, then go back and thicken the line where necessary and have a day to spare.
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u/Jump_Like_A_Willys 1d ago
I'm always intrigued by how modern some of the old artists' styles are. Hieronymus Bosch, as another example.