A Deathbed Scene [recto]

c. 1521/1522

Polidoro da Caravaggio

Artist, Lombard, c. 1499 - 1543

Drawn with red chalk on cream-white paper, a person lies back in a bed surrounded by nearly twenty people in this horizontal scene. The bed is just to left of center, and the person leans or is propped against the headboard, which is across from us. Curtains are pulled up over the bed. Others kneel, sit, or stand around the bed. They wear long gowns or garments.

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Artwork overview

Associated Artworks

Drawn with red chalk on eggshell-white paper, a woman sits on a box and leans forward, holding out a square cloth. Her body faces our right in profile, and she wears a headdress and a long-sleeved, full-skirted dress. She rests one elbow on her knee as she leans forward. The scene is loosely sketched.

Woman Seated with a Piece of Cloth [verso]

Polidoro da Caravaggio

1521

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Robert Udny, England, before 1802 (1722 - 1830)(Lugt 2248); Samuel Woodburn (1786 - 1853); Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (1769 - 1830) (Lugt 2445); Samuel Woodburn (his posthumous sale, Christie's, London, 7 June 1860, no. 691); purchased by Evans. (Sotheby's, London, 12 March 1963, no. 21); David E. Rust, Washington, D.C., 1963 - 1991; gift to NGA, 1991.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1836

  • One Hundred Original Drawings by Zucchero, Andrea del Sarto, Polidore da Caravaggio and Fra Bartolomeo, collected by Sir Thomas Lawrence, Lawrence Gallery, London (7th Exhibition), April 1836, no. 47.

1987

  • Drawings by Raphael and His Circle, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, 1987, no. 82.

1991

  • Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, Washington, D.C., 1991, 12-13.

2009

  • From Raphael to the Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2009, 146-148, 452, no. 27 (entry by Linda Wolk-Simon) (color).

2020

  • Raphael and His Circle: Prints and Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2020, no cat.

Bibliography

1969

  • Marabottini, Alessandro. Polidoro da Caravaggio. Rome, 1969: 1:310-311, cats. 51-52.

1978

  • Ravelli, Lanfranco. Polidoro Caldara da Caravaggio. Bergamo, 1978: 121, cats. 52-53.

1986

  • Parma Armani, Elena. Perin del Vaga, L'anello mancante. Genoa, 1986: 40, 42, note 67, fig. 36.

1988

  • Leone de Castris, Pierluigi. Polidoro da Caravaggio fra Napoli e Messina. exh. cat. Capodimonte, Naples, 1988-1989 (Milan-Rome 1988): 7, fig. 6.

  • Ravelli, Lanfranco. "Un fregio di Polidoro a palazzo Baldassini in Roma." Supplement to Atti dell'Ateneo di Scienze Lettere ed Arti 47. Bergamo, 1988: 43-44, figs. 64, 65.

Wikidata ID

Q64619706

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