The Martyrdom of Saint Margaret of Antioch
Drawing
ca. 1556
ca. 1556
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This drawing is possibly a preparatory drawing for a lost painting commissioned to Federico Barocci in 1556 in Urbino, Italy, his native city. It shows the Martyrdom of St Margaret of Antioch, characterised by the dragon represented beside her. St Margaret of Antioch was martyred in the 4th century A.D. The drawing shows the stylistic influence of such mannerist painter as Federico Zuccaro with whom Barocci worked in Rome. The drawing is generally dated from his early career.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Martyrdom of Saint Margaret of Antioch |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink and wash, highlighted with white body-colour |
| Brief description | Drawing, 'The Martyrdom of St Margaret of Antioch' by Federico Barocci, Italian school, mid 16th century |
| Physical description | A woman looking up towards a cloud above her and with a dragon on her side is bound by two Roman soldiers; the upper part of the sheet shows the Virgin and Child in a cloud, but their heads and shoulders are cut off along the upper edge of the paper and the group is partly erased with white. body-colour |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed in ink on bottom left 'Barozzi' and bottom centre off right 'Canuti' |
| Object history | Possibly Paignon-Dijonval, Paris [catalogue 1810, no. 222]; Sir Thomas Lawrence (Lugt 2445); Miss E. Dalton (purple stamp on verso not in Lugt); bequeathed to the museum in 1900 |
| Historical context | Originally acquired as an anonymous drawing and described as 'St Martha, with a dragon, bound by two Roman soldiers', this drawing was recently identified as a drawing by the late Renaissance painter Federico Barocci (1528/25-1612; A. Forlani-Tempesta, 1996). The drawing shows in fact St Margaret whose traditional attribute is a dragon. Her story is related in the Golden Legend by Jacobus of Voragine: the dragon usually depicted beside her represents an allegory of the devil and her fight against it. She was martyred under Diocletian's reign in the 4th century A.D. This drawing is possibly a preparatory drawing, i. e. modello, for a painting now lost that Barocci executed for the confraternity of the Corpus Domini in Urbino in 1556. The description of this painting by Bellori corresponds to the compositional arrangement of the drawing. It is however impossible to prove that this drawing was executed in preparation for this commission. Stylistically the present drawing shows features that belong to Barocci early career, related to the work in Casino of Pius IV and to the drawing The virgin and Child enthroned under a canopy, with ST Roch and St Sebastian in Chatsworth. This drawing can therefore be dated c. 1556. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This drawing is possibly a preparatory drawing for a lost painting commissioned to Federico Barocci in 1556 in Urbino, Italy, his native city. It shows the Martyrdom of St Margaret of Antioch, characterised by the dragon represented beside her. St Margaret of Antioch was martyred in the 4th century A.D. The drawing shows the stylistic influence of such mannerist painter as Federico Zuccaro with whom Barocci worked in Rome. The drawing is generally dated from his early career. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | D.1084-1900 |
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| Record created | June 13, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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