Figure Ascending Over a Crowd

Formerly attributed to Anonymous, Spanish School, mid-19th cent.
This sheet is one of the most abstract and painterly of Lucas's drawings. The composition is difficult to read, its obscure forms implying a subject of allegory, religion, or witchcraft. The principal rising figure is shrouded in white, its arms extending toward the top of the page. The artist's vigorous technique is apparent in the visible brushstrokes and layering of wash. Identical in size to Death Reading from a Human Lectern, Congregation in Background (inv. no. I, 111c), this drawing may be seen as its pendant, the two works representing death and resurrection, respectively. --Exhibition Label, from "Visions and Nightmares: Four Centuries of Spanish Drawings"