The Bodies of Saints Peter and Paul Hidden in the Catacombs

c. 1645/1647

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione

Associated Names
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione

Artist, Italian, 1609 - 1664

This is a drawing of a sleeping figure and figures nearby in a wooded landscape. The scene is intricately detailed with cross-hatching and line work. A figure is depicted reclining in a forest-like setting beneath a canopy of dense foliage. To the right, a group of figures can be seen clustered together with their expressions subtly etched into the background of trees and shadows. The composition uses dark and light areas to direct attention towards the sleeping figure, which is illuminated. The atmosphere conveyed is one of a moment captured in a forested or natural setting.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 29.9 x 20.6 cm (11 3/4 x 8 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1972.70.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Bartsch, no. 14

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1974

  • NGA Recent Acquisitions 1974, no. 95.

1997

  • Six Centuries/Six Artists, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1997.

2001

  • The Unfinished Print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001.

2004

  • The Unfinished Print, The Frick Collection, New York, 2004.

2012

  • The Baroque Genius of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., 2012

Bibliography

1802

  • Bartsch, Adam. Le peintre graveur. 21 vols. Vienna, 1802-1821: Adam. Le peintre graveur. 21 vols. Vienna: J.V. Degen, 1802-1821.

Wikidata ID

Q65568970

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