Death of a Roman Matron
1781–1835
Medium
Pen and ink, brush and brown wash
Dimensions
8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cephas G. Thompson, 1887
Accession Number
87.12.151
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Death of a Roman Matron** is a poignant drawing by Italian artist Bartolomeo Pinelli (1781–1835), capturing a dramatic moment from ancient Roman life. Pinelli, renowned for his depictions of Roman history, customs, and costumes in a neoclassical style, often drew inspiration from classical antiquity during the Napoleonic era's fascination with the Roman Empire. This intimate 8 x 10-inch sheet likely portrays a noblewoman on her deathbed, surrounded by mourning men and women—a scene evoking the stoic dignity and familial piety central to Roman ideals. Executed in pen and ink with brush and b...
About the Artist
Bartolomeo Pinelli · 1781–1835
Bartolomeo Pinelli (1781–1835) was an Italian artist and printmaker who became one of the most popular and prolific chroniclers of Roman popular life in the early nineteenth century. Born in Rome, he trained at the Accademia di San Luca and demonstrated precocious talent in drawing and sculpture, though it was as an engraver and illustrator that he found his true vocation and his widest audience. ...