Christ Praying while His Disciples are in a Boat on a Windy Sea

Executed with a metal engraving tool, the image relies on fine incised lines to render the churning waves, cloud formations, and the textured rock. The handling is meticulous yet retains a formal rigidity, reflecting the influence of Northern engravers such as the Wierix brothers and Crispyn van de Passe, whose approaches favored precise, linear detail.

Created circa 1578 by Léonard Gaultier, a French-born engraver who worked in Paris from the late sixteenth century until his death in 1641, the print is part of a larger body of work that includes hundreds of portraits and religious subjects. Gaultier’s prints were often issued after his own designs and circulated widely among collectors of the period.

The engraving belongs to the Counter‑Reformation’s visual agenda, which promoted devotional images that reinforced biblical narratives. Its dramatic depiction of a storm and the solitary praying figure aligns with contemporary efforts to use art as a tool for meditation and moral instruction, especially within the burgeoning print market of early modern Europe.