The Descent from the Cross

The Descent from the Cross

Gian Antonio Burrini

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The signature blue and gold mount of this drawing indicates it was owned by the French collector and connoisseur Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694–1774), who also attributed this composition to Burrini in the elegant inscription on the cartouche. According to Mariette's Abécédario Pittorico (Paris, 1851-1853, vol. 1, p . 236), the Metropolitan Museum of Art's drawing was part of a series of twelve studies for paintings on copper executed by Burrini for the "Count C.P.A.," later identified as Pirro (or Pietro) Capacelli Albergati (Bologna 1663-1735 Bologna). In addition to the present drawing, Mariette's group of four included a Birth of the Virgin, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. 7067), an Adoration of the Shepherds, and a Presentation in the Temple, both now in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt (AE 1252 and AE 1253, respectively). (Furio Rinaldi)

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Descent from the CrossThe Descent from the CrossThe Descent from the CrossThe Descent from the CrossThe Descent from the Cross

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.