Saint Stephen
1730s/1740s
Medium
charcoal on blue paper (now faded) heightened with white chalk
Dimensions
overall: 40.8 × 35.5 cm (16 1/16 × 14 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Bequest of Lore Heinemann in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann
Accession Number
1997.57.6
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta · 1682–1754
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta was born in Venice in 1682 and trained first under his father, the sculptor and woodcarver Giacomo Piazzetta, before turning decisively to painting. The crucial formative experience of his career came when he traveled to Bologna to study under Giuseppe Maria Crespi, whose dramatic use of chiaroscuro — strong contrasts of light and shadow rooted in the Caravaggesque trad...