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Saint Martin and the Beggar

Attributed to Vittore Carpaccio Italian
1493–1500
Not on view
This small study appears to have been preparatory for an altarpiece in the Zara Cathedral, which Carpaccio probably undertook in 1493; although the drawing omits the landscape in the painting, it represents many other details of similar design. The subject is based on an episode from the life of Saint Martin of Tours (ca. 315-397 A.D.), as told in Jacobus de Voragine's 'Golden Legend.' The saint, a young soldier in the Roman army, is seen here on horseback, in the act of cutting off a piece from his cloak with his sword to clothe the beggar standing by his side toward the center. Vittore Carpaccio was the leading painter of late fifteenth-century Venice, along with Giovanni and Gentile Bellini.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Saint Martin and the Beggar
  • Artist: Attributed to Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, Venice 1460/66?–1525/26 Venice)
  • Date: 1493–1500
  • Medium: Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, over faint traces of black chalk
  • Dimensions: 7 x 4 1/2 in. (17.8 x 11.4 cm) maximum; borders cropped irregularly
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Charles and Jessie Price Gift, 2002
  • Object Number: 2002.93
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Saint Jerome (recto); Soldier with a Spear (verso), Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Brush with black ink and gray wash, over traces of black chalk or charcoal, highlighted with white gouache on blue paper (recto); black chalk, highlighted with white gouache, with some brush and gray wash (verso)
Saint Jerome (recto); Soldier with a Spear (verso)
Vittore Carpaccio
1460–1525
Studies of a Seated Youth in Armor, Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Black chalk, point of brush and gray wash, highlighted with white gouache, on blue paper
Studies of a Seated Youth in Armor
Vittore Carpaccio
ca. 1505
The Meditation on the Passion, Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Oil and tempera on wood
The Meditation on the Passion
Vittore Carpaccio
ca. 1490
Standing Female Figure (St. Anne; Cartoon for a Painting), Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray-brown wash, over charcoal underdrawing; outlines pricked for transfer, on two glued sheets of paper with overlapping joins
Standing Female Figure (St. Anne; Cartoon for a Painting)
Vittore Carpaccio
ca. 1502–4
Lucretia, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) Italian, Pen and brown ink over black chalk, partially incised with a stylus (recto); rubbed with black chalk for transfer (verso)
Lucretia
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)
1508–10

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