Pietro Testa
Italian, 1611/12-1650
Study for 'The Dream of Saint Joseph'
INV-1497
Pietro Testa
Italian, 1611/12-16501635/37
Study for 'The Dream of Saint Joseph'
Pietro Testa Italian, 1611/12-1650 →pen and ink drawingsdrawings (visual works)
Date
1635/37
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with black chalk and traces of incising, on tan laid paper, laid down on cream wove paper
Dimensions
36.8 × 24.2 cm (14 1/2 × 9 9/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by Dorothy Harza, with the assistance of Kate de Rothschild Agius and Marcus Agius, in memory of Laura Harza
This study is the last in the sequence of three composition drawings for The Dream of Saint Joseph. It differs from the other two in the pose of the figure of the Virgin, which, along with the figure of the Christ child, Testa has cut out and attached. Such attention to detail characterizes Testa's rigorous preparatory process, and it contrasts sharply with the freedom with which he etched the plate.
Also notable
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