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Saint Jerome (recto); Soldier with a Spear (verso)

1460–1525
Not on view
Carpaccio was among the first to explore the possibilities of drawing on blue paper. This study of an old man was made for the figure of Saint Jerome in the altarpiece of the cathedral of Zadar (Croatia), painted about 1493. The artist built up the forms through straight lines that correspond to his stiff conception of the figure, but his choice of media suffuses the drawing with a sense of atmosphere and light. The drawing of a soldier with a spear on the back of the sheet is likely a preparatory study as well.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Saint Jerome (recto); Soldier with a Spear (verso)
  • Artist: Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, Venice 1460/66?–1525/26 Venice)
  • Date: 1460–1525
  • Medium: Brush with black ink and gray wash, over traces of black chalk or charcoal, highlighted with white gouache on blue paper (recto); black chalk, highlighted with white gouache, with some brush and gray wash (verso)
  • Dimensions: 6 3/4 x 4 1/8 in. (17.2 x 10.5 cm); maximum; irregularly cut
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Harry G. Sperling Fund, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and Fletcher and Rogers Funds, 1998
  • Object Number: 1998.14a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Studies of a Seated Youth in Armor, Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Black chalk, point of brush and gray wash, highlighted with white gouache, on blue paper
Studies of a Seated Youth in Armor
Vittore Carpaccio
ca. 1505
The Meditation on the Passion, Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Oil and tempera on wood
The Meditation on the Passion
Vittore Carpaccio
ca. 1490
Saint Martin and the Beggar, Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, over faint traces of black chalk
Saint Martin and the Beggar
Vittore Carpaccio
1493–1500
Standing Female Figure (St. Anne; Cartoon for a Painting), Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray-brown wash, over charcoal underdrawing; outlines pricked for transfer, on two glued sheets of paper with overlapping joins
Standing Female Figure (St. Anne; Cartoon for a Painting)
Vittore Carpaccio
ca. 1502–4
Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso), Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia) Italian, Pen and brown ink, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (recto); pen and brown ink, brush with touches of brown wash, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (verso)
Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso)
Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia)
1435–38

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