Ancient Sacrifice and Head of a Satyr
1751 to 1775
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown and violet-brown wash on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 22.5 x 16.7 cm (8 7/8 x 6 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Joseph F. McCrindle Collection
Accession Number
2009.70.127.b
Art Historical Context
Felice Giani's *Ancient Sacrifice and Head of Satyr*, created between 1751 and1775, captures the neoclassical fascination with ancient mythology and ritual. This delicate drawing, executed in pen and brown ink heightened with brown and violet-brown washes on wove paper (22.5 x 16.7 cm), exemplifiesiani's skill as an Italian artist who bridged the late Baroque and emerging Neoclassicism. The smooth wove paper, a new invention in the 18th, allowed for finer ink lines and subtle tonal washes, making it ideal for detailed studies like this one. The composition juxtaposes a dramatic scene of ancie...
About the Artist
Felice Giani · 1758–1823
Died 21 January 1823. Giani was a student of C.A. Bianchi and Antonio Galli Bibiena in Pavia; from 1778 he was a student of Dom. Pedrini and Ub. Gandolfi in Bologna; from 1780 he was a student of P. Batoni, Chr. Unterberger and G. Antolini at the Academy of S. Luca in Rome.