Saint Augustine and Two Angels Adoring the Crucifix
Giuseppe Passeri
1685–1695
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, heightened with lead white, over red chalk on cream laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper
- Dimensions
- Primary support: 32.7 × 25.6 cm (12 7/8 × 10 1/8 in.); Secondary support: 38.5 × 29.9 cm (15 3/16 × 11 13/16 in.)
- Genre
- Pen and ink drawings
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Tags
drawings (visual works)chalkinkMythologypen and ink drawingsprints and drawingsknotsopaque white pigmentwhite pigmentcrucifixionsprints and drawingcolored inkdiamond shapesinorganic materialbrown inkSaintsChristian subjectscolorantlead whitecoating (material)pigmentpaper (fiber product)red chalk
About
One of the most sought-after painters in late 17th-century Rome, Passeri was also a prolific draftsman. The tenderly depicted venerating saint may be identified as Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (340–430), whose miter and crosier are held by two angels, while his numerous writings are represented by the open book at his feet. A sinner turned saint who lived long after the Crucifixion, Augustine could never have knelt at the Cross as this vision suggests.
