- Museum number
- 1979,1215.7
- Description
-
The Presentation of the Infant Christ in the Temple; the High Priest standing with arms out to receive him, other figures behind and a man at left crouching with a staff, putti above
Pen and brown ink, with brown wash, over black chalk
Verso: An alternative study of the same subject, with the High Priest seated with the Christ Child in his arms
Pen and brown ink, with brown wash, over black chalk
- Production date
- 1678-1716
- Dimensions
-
Height: 256 millimetres
-
Width: 191 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Lit.: N. Turner, 'Italian Drawings in the BM, Roman Baroque Drawings', London, 1999, I, no. 261
Turner 1999
Pietro de' Pietri made numerous studies for a composition of this subject, the primary painted version of which is the picture formerly in the collection of Tomás Harris (Dreyer, 1971, fig. 2); two other painted versions are known, one formerly in the chapel of the Pallavicini palace in Rome (present whereabouts unknown; Joachim and McCullagh, 1979, p. 67) and the other, a horizontal canvas, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen (Rosenberg, 1966, p. 201, no. 223). A fourth painting by de' Pietri, of an oval format, in S.Maria in Via Lata, Rome, is loosely related to the composition on the recto of the British Museum drawing: it consists of the six central characters, shown three-quarter length.
Of the eight drawings relating to 1979,1215.7, only a study in red chalk in Berlin can clearly be identified as preparatory to the Harris painting (Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, inv.no.Kdz 18232 verso; Dreyer, 1971, p. 191, fig. 6). With the exception of red chalk studies at Windsor Castle (inv.no.4408; Blunt and Cooke, 1960, no.678) and in Philadelphia (inv.no. 1978-70-386; Philadelphia, 1980-81, p. 155, checklist no. 148), the other drawings are elaborate compositional studies in pen and wash, which vary the poses and the placement of the figures constituting the scene. One each belongs to the Metropolitan Museum, New York (inv.no. 1980.122; Bean, 1982, p. 316, no. App. 15 (repr.)); the Art Institute in Chicago (inv.no. 1972.323; Joachim and McCullagh, 1979, no. 93, pl. 100); a private English collection (photo at Witt Library, private collection lxx, no. 317); and the Albertina, Vienna (inv.no. 1269; Birke and Kertész, 1992-7, 11, p. 691). A further version recently appeared on the London art market (Sotheby's, London, 2 July 1997, lot 154).
As Peter Dreyer first pointed out (Dreyer, 1971, p. 190), the composition derives from Maratti's lost painting of the 'Presentation of Jesus', which is known through engravings by Cornelis Bloemaert and F. Louvemont.
Literature: Bean, 1982, p.317, under no. App. 15.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1979
- Acquisition notes
- This item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45. The British Museum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1979,1215.7