The Sword of Damocles
1785–1807
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
Dimensions
16-5/8 x 23-1/4 in. (42.2 x 59.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
Accession Number
80.3.373
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giuseppe Piattoli's *The Sword of Damocles*1785–1807) is a captivating ink drawing that vividly captures the ancient parable of impending doom. Rendered in pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash, 16-5/8 x 23-1/4-inch work exemplifies late 18th-century draftsmanship, where monochromatic tones create dramatic depth and shadow. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department—a gift from Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1880—it showcases Piattoli's skill historical subjects, blending Neoclassical precision with emotional intensity. The composition centers on the legendary ta...