Read the visual description
Drawn with red chalk on cream-white paper, a person lies back in a bed surrounded by nearly twenty people in this horizontal scene. The bed is just to left of center, and the person leans or is propped against the headboard, which is across from us. Curtains are pulled up over the bed. Others kneel, sit, or stand around the bed. They wear long gowns or garments.
National Gallery of Art · Drawing
A Deathbed Scene [recto]
Polidoro da Caravaggio
- Date
- c. 1521/1522
- Medium
- red chalk on laid paper
- Dimensions
- overall: 21 x 29 cm (8 1/4 x 11 7/16 in.)
- Classification
- Drawing
- Accession number
- 1991.9.1.a
- Credit line
- Gift of David E. Rust, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
- Time span
- 1501 to 1550
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- Italian
- Death
- stages of life
Provenance
Robert Udny, England, before 1802 (1722 - 1830)(Lugt 2248); Samuel Woodburn (1786 - 1853); Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (1769 - 1830) (Lugt 2445); Samuel Woodburn (his posthumous sale, Christie's, London, 7 June 1860, no. 691); purchased by Evans. (Sotheby's, London, 12 March 1963, no. 21); David E. Rust, Washington, D.C., 1963 - 1991; gift to NGA, 1991.
NGA object ID 72064. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.