Saint Benedict Enthroned between Saint John the Baptist and Saint Luke
1562
16th century
40.8 cm x 29 cm (16 1/16 in. x 11 7/16 in.)
Luca Cambiaso
(Moneglia, Italy, 1527 - 1585, El Escorial, Spain)
Primary
Object Type:
drawing
Artist Nationality:
Europe, Italian
Medium and Support:
Pen and iron gall ink with brush and brown wash on cream antique laid paper
Credit Line:
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Suida-Manning Collection, 2017
Accession Number:
2017.972
In 1562 Luca Spinola commissioned Cambiaso to decorate his family’s chapel in the church of Santa Caterina dei Monaci. The one element to survive the church’s demolition in the 19th century is the altarpiece, which was transferred to Genoa’s cathedral. This drawing, identical in style to the Persephone, is an early design for the altarpiece, establishing the basic format and distribution of ele-ments but preceding changes in each figure’s attitude and the elimination of the monk in the foreground.
Possibly an autographed replica (Jonathan Bober 5/13/11)