Doorway of St. Mark's, Venice

Rosenberg was a trained architect who traveled the globe to interpret the world’s most celebrated buildings through etching. Compared to his etching Le Tour Goguin, Nevers that is filled with air and atmosphere, this print is a dense network of lines. Rather than showing the whole of the sacred structure, Rosenberg zooms in close. He isolates the central portal on St. Mark’s west façade. The tiny lines recreate the intricacies of the Romanesque reliefs that adorn the basilica’s main entrance. The figure not only establishes scale, but also becomes a substitute for the viewer.

Bequest of Frances M. Logan...