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Study for the Allegory of Religion

1629–39
Not on view
The traditional attribution of this very lively drawing to the Baroque master, Pietro da Cortona, was endorsed by Jacob Bean in his catalogue of The Met's seventeenth century Italian drawings (1979). The subject was recognized by Bruce Davis (1983) as a study for the Allegory of Religion frescoed between 1629 and 1639 by the artist on the vault of the main hall of the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. This identification was upheld by Simonetta Prosperi Valenti Rodinò (1997). On the Barberini ceiling, Religion is placed right below the personification of Rome, on the upper left section of the decoration. In the fresco painting, she holds a monumental, ornate, gold key. Cortona often used red chalk to draw figural studies after living models.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study for the Allegory of Religion
  • Artist: Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini) (Italian, Cortona 1596–1669 Rome)
  • Date: 1629–39
  • Medium: Red chalk, glued onto a light cardboard mount
  • Dimensions: 4 13/16 x 7 1/16in. (12.2 x 18cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1964
  • Object Number: 64.197.3
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
St. Michael Expurging Heresy, Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini) Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash over traces of black chalk
St. Michael Expurging Heresy
Attributed to Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini)
1596–1669
Lobster-Tail Burgonet, Steel, leather, gold, North Italian
Lobster-Tail Burgonet
North Italian
ca. 1610
Amya Petitioning Faustus for the Custody of Saint Mamas, Jean Cousin the Elder French, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, heightened with white, over black chalk
Amya Petitioning Faustus for the Custody of Saint Mamas
Jean Cousin the Elder
ca. 1543
Landscape with Wine Harvest, Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini) Italian, Brush and gray wash, touches of pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk, with an illusionistic frame drawn in yellow and brown wash
Landscape with Wine Harvest
Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini)
ca. 1630
Armor, Steel, copper alloy, textile, leather, Italian
Armor
Italian
ca. 1400–1450 and later

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