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Visit
Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights
Through September 5
Exhibitions & Events
America’s 250th

Celebrating American art and artists
Art & Artists
Open Call

Artists Reimagining the Collection
Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

The Sacrifice of Iphigenia

1744

Francesco Fontebasso

Associated Names

Francesco Fontebasso

Artist, Venetian, 1709 - 1769

This is a drawing depicting various figures in a dynamic scene with a supernatural element. The image features a central figure being carried away by another figure emerging from a cloud-like mass. Surrounding them are other figures in different states of frantic activity, with one figure on the ground shielding their face. The background shows a grand architectural structure with arches, contributing to the grandiose setting. The scene conveys chaos, urgency, and supernatural intervention through the interaction between the main figures and the cloud.

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Artwork overview

Medium

etching on laid paper
Credit Line

Gift of Karin Wachtel in memory of her husband, Cesare Morini
Dimensions

plate: 28.7 × 38.7 cm (11 5/16 × 15 1/4 in.)
sheet: 41.3 × 59.2 cm (16 1/4 × 23 5/16 in.)
Accession Number

2014.117.6
Catalogue Raisonné

De Vesme 1906, no. 9

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Cesare Morini, Milan; his widow, Karin Wachtel, Milan; gift to NGA, 2015

Associated Names

Bibliography

1906

Vesme, Alexandre de (Baudi di Vesme, Alessandro). Le peintre-graveur italien; ouvrage faisant suite au peintre-graveur de Bartsch. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1906: no. 9

Wikidata ID

Q77007878

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