The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Peter, Saint Damasus, Saint Lawrence, and Saint Paul; the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence in the Background

The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Peter, Saint Damasus, Saint Lawrence, and Saint Paul; the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence in the Background

Federico Zuccaro (Zuccari)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A preparatory study by Federico Zuccaro for the high altarpiece in San Lorenzo in Damaso, Rome, a work commissioned from his older brother Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-1566) but actually executed by Federico and completed in 1568, nearly two years after Taddeo's death. The finished altarpiece differs from this project in that the upper half of the composition is occupied by a representation of the Coronation of the Virgin (see Gere 1966, fig. 2). John A. Gere has pointed out that Federico has combined in the present drawing two motifs studied separately by Taddeo in surviving drawings that relate to this project: the appearance of the Virgin to the four saints (inspired by Raphael's "Madonna di Foligno," 1512), and the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence. Finished "modelli" by Federico, corresponding in every detail with the painting, are in the Louvre, Chatsworth, and Bremen. The final altarpiece was engraved by Cornelis Cort and published by Lorenzo Vaccari in 1576 (see acc. no. 51.501.3320).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Peter, Saint Damasus, Saint Lawrence, and Saint Paul; the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence in the BackgroundThe Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Peter, Saint Damasus, Saint Lawrence, and Saint Paul; the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence in the BackgroundThe Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Peter, Saint Damasus, Saint Lawrence, and Saint Paul; the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence in the BackgroundThe Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Peter, Saint Damasus, Saint Lawrence, and Saint Paul; the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence in the BackgroundThe Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Peter, Saint Damasus, Saint Lawrence, and Saint Paul; the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence in the Background

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.