Two Saints in Adoration

n.d.

Not on view

This relatively finished working drawing in bold chiaroscuro is in the form of a lunette or an apse, suggesting that it was intended as a study for a fresco. It portrays two bishop saints, with their attributes of crosiers nearby, who kneel in prayer at either side of a dividing column. The saint on the left is seen from the rear, while that on the right is seen from the front. Above, to either side of the column, groups of putti bear miniature nude male figures who presumably represent the souls of the deceased. This accomplished composition is a late work by one of the outstanding Sienese painters and draftsmen active in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century. The sheet probably served as a demonstration drawing (modello), and is comparable to other such drawings by the artist for the fresco cycles in the Bargagli Chapel at the church of Santo Spirito in Siena, dated 1600, and in the lower part of the Oratorio di San Bernardino at the church of San Francesco in Siena, dated 1602.

(C.C.B.)

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Two Saints in Adoration
Artist: Ventura Salimbeni (Italian, Siena 1568–1613 Siena)
Date: n.d.
Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash over traces of leadpoint
Dimensions: 6 1/2 x 12 5/8 in. (16.5 x 32.1 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, and Sally and Howard Lepow Gift, 2001
Object Number: 2001.282
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Ventura Salimbeni

In the same medium

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The Vision of Saints Joachim and Anne; the saints connected by vine tendrils to a vision of the Virgin in the heavens

Ventura Salimbeni

1590

The Baptism of Christ

Ventura Salimbeni

1589

Wilton album, folio 53d: The Vision of Saints Joachim and Anne; the saints connected by vine tendrils to a vision of the Virgin in the heavens

Ventura Salimbeni

Iohannes Statius

1590

Wilton album, folio 54b: The Virgin and Child with Saint Joseph in the Background

Ventura Salimbeni

1590–1613

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