Album of Drawings for Dante's "Divine Comedy"
c. 1793
John Flaxman
Artist, British, 1755 - 1826
Artwork overview
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Medium
bound volume with 78 drawings in pen and ink and graphite
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
sheet: 42.5 × 30.4 cm (16 3/4 × 11 15/16 in.)
book: 43.8 × 32.5 × 3.4 cm (17 1/4 × 12 13/16 × 1 5/16 in.) -
Accession Number
1943.3.3734
More About this Artwork
Article: Going through Hell? See Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” in Art
Travel with artists through Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell.
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
By descent to the artist's niece, Miss Denman [1]; by descent to her nephew, Mr. Denman; (sale, Christie's, London, May 1862); Charles Sackville Bale [1791-1880], London (Lugt 640); (his sale, Christie's, London, 16 May 1881, lot 382); (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd.). Walter Henry James [1846-1923], Betteshanger, England. (Raphael King, Ltd., London); Lessing J. Rosenwald, 1940; gift to the NGA, 1943.
[1] It is possible that the album passed by descent to the artist's sister-in-law, Maria Denman, referred to as Miss Denman. Flaxman left Maria Denman many of his works upon his death.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
2023
Going through Hell: The Divine Dante, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2023.
Bibliography
2004
Salvador, Francesca. La divina commedia illustrata da Flaxman. Milan, 2004.
Inscriptions
In pencil inside front flyleaf: J. Flaxman left his drawings to his niece Miss / Denman. On her death they came to her nephew, Mr. Denman, and were o ffered for / sale by him at Christie's in 1862: when / these drawings were bought by Mr. Bale / May 1862 / F. T. Palgrave