The Martyrdom of Sts. Valerian and Cecilia
Lorenzo Peracini
Description
Subject Matter:
Artists relied on drawing to communicate with collaborators and patrons. In this polished drawing, every figure has been carefully posed and fully realized with brown and black ink and a wash to provide shading and depth. In the background, faint buildings recede into the cityscape.
The red chalk grid lines reveal that this drawing was used in a transfer process called “squaring.” Many early modern drawings represented images intended to be seen in another medium and often at a different scale. Once squared, assistants or other artists could recreate an image piece by piece at a larger or smaller scale, focusing on the details within one square at a time. This drawing could have been squared for transfer into a large scale medium like tapestry, fresco, or painting on canvas. Or, it could have been reproduced in a smaller medium like print. St. Cecilia and St. Valerian were married couple from ancient Rome; they converted to Christianity and were later martyred for the faith, the moment of high drama depicted here. The final image was probably intended to be in a church.
Usage Rights:
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