Currently not on view
Dead Christ supported by an Angel,
ca. 1552–55
Battista Franco, 1510–1561; born and died Venice, Italy
x1975-241
A Venetian painter and printmaker who spent several decades in Rome and Florence, Franco was celebrated during his own lifetime for his lively and refined draftsmanship. Confidently sketched in the artist’s favorite technique of pen and delicately applied light brown ink, this drawing depicts the dead Christ supported by an angel. In all likelihood, it served as an exploratory study for an etching of similar scale and subject matter, which relates to the devotional theme of Christ as the Man of Sorrows, extensively represented in the visual arts in mid-sixteenth-century Venice.
Information
Title
Dead Christ supported by an Angel
Dates
ca. 1552–55
Maker
Medium
Pen and brown ink on beige laid paper
Dimensions
16.7 × 11.9 cm (6 9/16 × 4 11/16 in.)
frame: 54.6 × 42.2 × 2.7 cm (21 1/2 × 16 5/8 × 1 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Laura P. Hall Memorial Fund
Object Number
x1975-241
Marks/Labels/Seals
Lower left corner: blindstamp (Lugt 2903) (See reference Bib. 4661) of Moriz von Freiz (Maltese[?] Cross within circle).
Culture
Type
Materials
Subject
Comte Moritz von Fries, stamp (L. 2903) recto, lower left, embossed; sale, Sotheby’s, London, July 4, 1975, lot 179; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London.;
- 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
- An interesting collection of old master drawings, (London: Sotheby's, 1975). , lot 179
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1975," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, 35, no. 1 (1976): p. 22-31., p. 27
- Sue Welsh Reed and Richard Wallace, et. al., Italian Etchers of the Renaissance and Baroque, (Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989)., p. 54-55
- Laura Giles, Lia Markey, Claire Van Cleave, et. al., Italian Master Drawings from the Princeton University Art Museum, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2014)., p. 59, cat. no. 24; p. 60 (illus.) (verso illus.)
