Currently not on view
Seated Female Martyr Saint,
1640s
Bernardo Cavallino, Italian, 1616 - 1656
Formerly attributed to Carlo Maratta, Italian, 1625–1713
Formerly attributed to Carlo Maratta, Italian, 1625–1713
x1947-132
Although no halo is shown, this theatrically expressive figure holds a palm branch, indicating her status as a martyr saint. The vaguely defined object she leans against could possibly be a wheel, the principal instrument of torture of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (287–305 a.d.). This luminous sketch is one of a handful of drawings associated with Bernardo Cavallino, the leading artist of mid-seventeenth century Naples, whose career was cut short by the plague that devastated the city in 1656. Cavallino’s tender and portraitlike depictions of female saints were popular with private collectors in and beyond Naples.
Information
Title
Seated Female Martyr Saint
Dates
1640s
Maker
Medium
Red chalk on cream laid paper
Dimensions
39 x 26.8 cm (15 3/8 x 10 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
Object Number
x1947-132
Inscription
In pencil, lower right: Guido
Marks/Labels/Seals
Watermark: unidentified form in oval
Reference Numbers
G. 177
Culture
Type
Materials
Subject
Otto Benesch attributes it to Bernardo Cavallini.;
Formerly attributed to Carlo Maratta, Italian, 1625–1713
- Exhibition of drawings by old masters from the private collection of Prof. Frank Jewett Mather: International Art Center of Roerich Museum: December 18th to 31st, 1930, (New York: Roerich Museum, 1930)., no. 9
- Felton Gibbons, Catalogue of Italian Drawings in The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977)., Vol. 1: pp. 19-20, no. 48 (illustrated in Vol. 2 under the same catalog number)
