This image represents the moment when Ananias is struck down and dies after lying to Saint Peter about the proportion of money he is donating to the Church.
The so-called Raphael Cartoons are seven full size designs for tapestries by the great Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). They illustrate passages from the Bible concerning the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. None of them is smaller than ten feet high by thirteen feet wide. They belong to Her Majesty the Queen and have been on loan to this museum since 1865. The earliest print relating to the Raphael Cartoons dates from 1516, the year in which Raphael received final payment for the commission. It inaugurates an extraordinary case study in the history of printmaking, stretching over more than four hundred and fifty years and across a wide range of printmaking techniques. This print is in reverse of the tapestry and therefore is in the same direction as the cartoon from which it derives.
Physical description
Ananias lies dying on the right of the foreground. To the left a man and woman react in horror. On a raised platform in the centre background a group of men stand, Saint Peter in the middle passing judgement on Ananias. In the background right people are carrying goods or counting money and on the left a man is handing money over to one of the men on the platform. A couple leave via steps to the right of the background; over the staircase is a window through which an onlooker watches the scene. Through a square opening on the right is a landscape with tree.
This print is in the same direction as the cartoon from which it is derived and is faithful in compositional detail except that the image is taller and the top of the drape and the figures climbing the stairs are therefore more visible.
Place of Origin
London, England (published)
Date
ca. 1750? (engraved)
19th century (published)
Artist/maker
Bauvais, D (engraver)
Raphael, born 1483 - died 1520 (artist)
W. Tegg (published)
Materials and Techniques
etching and engraving on paper
Marks and inscriptions
D. BAUUAIS, SCULP.
RAPHAEL URBIN. PINX.
LONDON: PUBLISHED BY W. TEGG, PANCRAS LANE.
DEATH OF ANANIAS.
Printed by T. Brooker.
Dimensions
Height: 48.5 cm sheet, Width: 64 cm sheet, Height: 35.7 cm platemark, Width: 51.7 cm platemark
Descriptive line
Etching and engraving by D Bauvais, after a cartoon by Raphael, published by W. Tegg; The Death of Ananias; published in London.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Shearman, John. Raphael's Cartoons in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen and the tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. London, Phaidon, 1972.
General text about the cartoons and tapestries.
Fermor, Sharon. The Raphael Tapestry Cartoons: Narrative, Decoration, Design. London, Scala Books in association with the Victoria and Albery Museum.
General text about the cartoons and tapestries.
Le Blanc, Charles. Manuel de l'Amateur d'Estampes. Paris, 1854-6.
Materials
Paper; Printing ink
Techniques
Etching (printing process); Engraving (printing process)
Subjects depicted
Landscapes; Peter (Saint); Crowd scenes; Raphael Cartoons; Drapes; Ananias; Paving
Categories
Prints; Religion; Christianity
Collection code
PDP
