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Baptism of a Warrior by a Bishop Saint (recto); Young Woman’s Head (verso)

German

Artwork Details

Baptism of a Warrior by a Bishop Saint (recto); Young Woman’s Head (verso)
17th century
German
pen and brown ink with gray wash and black chalk on cream paper
15 13/16 in. x 12 7/16 in. ( 40.2 cm x 31.6 cm )
Gift through the Estate of Edward Sonnenschein
1970/2.17

Description

Subject Matter:

This drawing depicts a fresco executed by Giovanni Battista Pozzo (c. 1563-1591) for the Peretti Chapel, Santa Susanna, Rome. The scene is the conversion of St. Genesius, a third-century actor who was about to perform a play ridiculing the rite of baptism. He saw a vision during his performance of angels holding a book with his sins and Genesius converted on the spot.
It has been suggested by Szilvia Bodnár that this drawing, and another drawing showing this composition in the collection of the Albertina, predate the final fresco, which is in a horizontal format while the two drawings are portrait format.

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