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The Death of Ananias

Print
1855 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

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 the same direction as the cartoon from which it derived.

George Baxter is famous for having developed a method of printing in full colour. In a total output of three hundred and seventy seven prints, only fifteen, including his prints of the Cartoons, are so-called Baxterotypes. Printed in shades of brown, they simulate photographs and the name echoes the word daguerreotype, the earliest photographic process, announced in 1839. George Baxter's premonition that the depiction of works of art by means of prints made by human hand would soon be facing a challenge from the new photographic processes, was correct. His simulated photographs of the Cartoons predate the first actual photographs of the Cartoons by only three years.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • The Death of Ananias (popular title)
  • Raphael Cartoons (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Baxterotype
Brief description
Print by George Baxter after Raphael, 'The Death of Ananias,' 1 of 5 prints from a set of 7 depicting the Raphael Cartoons, Baxterotype, England, 1855
Physical description
This print is in the same direction as the cartoon and therefore in reverse of the tapestry. Ananias lies on the ground centre 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 to the left people are carrying goods or counting money and on the right 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 left is a landscape with tree.

On a mount with an embossed seal.

This print is in the same direction as the cartoon from which it is derived and is a faithful reproduction in compositional detail, except that the printed image is taller and so the drapes and the people climbing the stairs are more visible.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.4cm
  • Width: 21.3cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
Gift - Miss C W B (inscribed in red ink)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Francis William Baxter
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceBible, Acts, 5, verses 3 & 5
Summary
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 the same direction as the cartoon from which it derived.

George Baxter is famous for having developed a method of printing in full colour. In a total output of three hundred and seventy seven prints, only fifteen, including his prints of the Cartoons, are so-called Baxterotypes. Printed in shades of brown, they simulate photographs and the name echoes the word daguerreotype, the earliest photographic process, announced in 1839. George Baxter's premonition that the depiction of works of art by means of prints made by human hand would soon be facing a challenge from the new photographic processes, was correct. His simulated photographs of the Cartoons predate the first actual photographs of the Cartoons by only three years.
Associated object
ROYAL LOANS.5 (Source)
Bibliographic references
  • Lewis, Courtney. George Baxter, the Picture Printer. 1924.
  • Shearman, John. Raphael's Cartoons in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen and the tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. London, Phaidon, 1972.
  • Fermor, Sharon. The Raphael Tapestry Cartoons: Narrative, Decoration, Design. London, Scala Books in association with the Victoria and Albery Museum.
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1932. London: HMSO, 1933
  • Lewis, C. T. Courtney. George Baxter (colour printer) his life and work: a manual for collectors. London: S. Low, Marston & Co. Ltd., 1908. cat. no. 251
Collection
Accession number
E.2933-1932

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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