Currently not on view
The Martyrdom of St. Bibiana
Ciro Ferri, Italian, 1634–1689
Formerly attributed to Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini), Italian, 1596 - 1669
Formerly attributed to Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini), Italian, 1596 - 1669
x1945-70
Like Martina, Bibiana was a Roman virgin martyr saint who died for her faith in the fourth century. According to legend, she was tied to a pillar and whipped to death. Seventeenth-century representations of her martyrdom include this flurried chalk drawing by Ferri, who was one of Pietro da Cortona’s many students. In his composition, which was inspired by Cortona’s fresco of the same episode, Ferri contrasted the dynamic poses of the torturers and victim with that of the seated Roman governor, who seems to turn away from the violent scene.
Information
Title
The Martyrdom of St. Bibiana
Maker
Medium
Black chalk on cream laid paper
Dimensions
24.9 x 34 cm (9 13/16 x 13 3/8 in.)
frame: 41.9 x 54.6 cm (16 1/2 x 21 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
Object Number
x1945-70
Reference Numbers
Gibbons 209
Culture
Type
Materials
Subject
Formerly attributed to Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini), Italian, 1596 - 1669
- "Recent accessions", Record of the Museum of Historic Art, Princeton University 5, no. 1 (1946): p. 11., p. 11
- Jacob Bean, Italian drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University; 106 selected examples, (New York: October House, 1966)., no. 32
- Woman as heroine: [Exhibition] September 15 through October 22, 1972, (Worcester, MA: Worcester Art Museum, 1972)., p. 24, no. 9 (illus.)
- Felton Gibbons, Catalogue of Italian Drawings in The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977)., Vol. 1: p. 51, no. 139 (illustrated in Vol. 2 under the same catalog number)
- Jean K. Westin, Transformations of the Roman Baroque, (Gainesville, FL: University Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of Florida, 1981)., cat. no. 2 (illus.)
