Procession (left-hand portion of border below Sacrifice of Isaac, inlaid-marble pavement, Siena Cathedral)
1520–50
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over leadpoint or black chalk
Dimensions
3 3/4 x 16 7/8in. (9.5 x 42.9cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
Accession Number
80.3.184
Tags
Art Historical Context
Domenico Beccafumi, a leading Sienese Mannerist artist active in the early 16th century, this intricate drawing as a preparatory study for the inlaid-marble pavement of Siena Cathedral—one of the most ambitious artistic projects of the Italian Renaissance. Dating from around 1520–50, it depicts the left-hand portion of border beneath the "Sacrifice of Isaac", part of a grand floor mosaic executed between 1369 and 1547. These pavements, viewable only from above by worshippers and visitors, demanded innovative designs with dramatic foreshortening to create illusions of depth when trodden upon. ...
About the Artist
Domenico Beccafumi
Italian artist. Comment on works: History