Currently not on view
Saint Francis Borja before an altar,
ca. 1671
Karel Škréta, Czech, 1610–1674
formerly attributed to Spanish ,17th century
formerly attributed to Spanish ,17th century
2002-112
The majority of Karel Škréta’s surviving drawings were made in preparation for painted altarpieces in and around Prague. This work has been connected with his engraving commemorating the canonization of the Spanish Jesuit Saint Francis Borja (1510–1572) in 1671. Škréta used this drawing to work out the compositional formula eventually adopted in the print, experimenting with the saint’s attributes in the lower-right corner of the sheet. The crowned skull refers to the head of Queen Isabella of Portugal, which Borja was charged to bring to its final resting place in Granada. The task is said to have inspired him to reflect on the mortality of the body and the immortality of the soul, an experience that renewed and fortified his faith.
Information
Title
Saint Francis Borja before an altar
Dates
ca. 1671
Maker
Medium
Pen and brown ink and brown wash over traces of black chalk
Dimensions
31 x 24.7 cm (12 3/16 x 9 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Laura P. Hall Memorial Fund and Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund
Object Number
2002-112
Marks/Labels/Seals
Stamp in black ink, lower right corner: PM [in oval] [Lugt 3561]
Culture
Type
Materials
Subject
Mathias Polakovits (1921-1987), Paris and New York, stamp, recto, lower right in black; placed on long-term loan to the Art Museum of Mathias Polakovits, 1984; purchased by the Art Museum from the estate of Mathias Polakovits, 2002.
formerly attributed to Spanish,17th century
- Frits Lugt, Les marques de collections de dessins & d'estampes: marques estampillées et écrites de collections particulières et publiques: marques de marchands, de monteurs et d'imprimeurs: cachets de vente d'artistes décédés: marques de graveurs apposées après le tirage des planches : timbres d'édition, etc., (Amsterdam: Vereenigde drukkerijen; La Haye: Nijhoff, 1921)., Lugt no. 3561
- "Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2002," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 62 (2003): p. 107-161., p. 110
- Sarah Lynch and Elizabeth Petcu, "[Review of] Karel Škréta, 1610 - 1674: his work and his era: [Waldstein Riding School and The Prague Castle Riding School, november 26, 2010 - april 10, 2011]", Umění 59, no. 5 (2011): p. 439-442.
- Sarah Lynch and Elizabeth Petcu, "Drawings by Karel Škréta the Elder and his Circle in North America", in Lenka Stolárová and Kateřina Holečková, eds., Karel Škréta (1610–1674): Dílo a doba; Studie, dokumenty, prameny (Praze: Národní galerie v Praze, 2013)
