A Nun on Her Deathbed, the Holy Spirit Above
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over red chalk.
Dimensions
4 3/4 x 4 1/2in. (12.1 x 11.4cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.129.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate drawing *A Nun on Her Death, the Holy Spirit Above (1532–87), Giovanni Lombardelli—known as "Il Mont"—captures a poignant moment of transcendence. This 16th-century Italian, active in the Marches region, in the Mannerist style blending elongated forms and dramatic emotion influenced by masters like Correggio andigianino. The scene depicts a serene nun reclining on her deathbed, her face illuminated by divine light as the Holy Spirit hovers above, symbolizing and salvation in the face of mortality—a common motif in Renaissance religious art amid the era's preoccupation with deat...