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The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

1580s–early 1590s
Not on view
This large, carefully squared composition by the son of the more famous Lombard painter Bernardino Luini served as a working modello for a fresco that was originally in the church of San Vincenzo alle Monache, Milan (now Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco, Milan). The commission is unrecorded, but stylistic comparison to other altarpieces by the artist suggests a date in the 1580s. The drawing retains a freshness of gesture and a lively rhythm of outline that seem lacking in the admittedly very damaged final fresco. Both the stark frontal foreshortening of the figure of Saint Lawrence and the diagonal thrust of the composition were inspired by Titian's famous canvas of the same subject, painted in 1548-57 (Church of the Gesuati, Venice), which became widely known through a number of painted replicas and Cornelis Cort's reproductive engraving.
(Carmen C. Bambach)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
  • Artist: Aurelio Luini (Italian, Luino or Milan ca. 1530–1593 Milan)
  • Date: 1580s–early 1590s
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white gouache, over black chalk, on light tan paper; squared in red chalk
  • Dimensions: 16-9/16 x 11-7/16 in. (42.0 x 29.0 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1985
  • Object Number: 1986.16
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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The Holy Family with the Infant Baptist, Saint Elizabeth, and an Attendant Angel, Aurelio Luini Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and pale brown wash, on beige paper
The Holy Family with the Infant Baptist, Saint Elizabeth, and an Attendant Angel
Aurelio Luini
1550–60
Jupiter and Juno: Study for the "Furti di Giove" Tapestries, Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) Italian, Pen and dark brown ink, brush and brown and gray wash, highlighted with white gouache
Jupiter and Juno: Study for the "Furti di Giove" Tapestries
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)
ca. 1532–35
Lucretia, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) Italian, Pen and brown ink over black chalk, partially incised with a stylus (recto); rubbed with black chalk for transfer (verso)
Lucretia
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)
1508–10
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
The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right, Leonardo da Vinci Italian, Black chalk, charcoal, and red chalk, with some traces of white chalk (?); some remains of framing lines in pen and brown ink at upper right (not by Leonardo)
The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right
Leonardo da Vinci
1510–13

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