Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Preparation for the Good Death

Maker

Attributed to
(artist)
1611-1678

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1598-1664

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1599-1660

Title

Date of Production

1600 - 1699

Medium

black chalk, pen and grey ink, brown ink added to figures and drapery at top, grey wash, on laid paper with grey ink framing lines, the image at upper centre cut into two separate fragments and rearranged

Dimensions

Height: 18.5 cm
Width: 14.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.43

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Pereda y Salgado has used washes, ink and black chalk to establish depth and shading within this composition. A sick man lies dying in his bed surrounded by his wife and child, as well as three men in secular dress. The men discuss a stack of papers, the dying man’s last will and testament, next to which is an inkpot ready for the man’s signature. By the dying man’s head stands an angel pointing heaven-ward, or perhaps to the religious images framed on the rear wall.

Provenance

Sir William Stirling Maxwell, London (1818-1878); by descent to his son, Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Glasgow (1866-1956); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 15 - 16 February 1921, lot 249; presumably purchased there by E. Parsons & Sons (London); their sale, cat. 38, 1921, lot 413 (as by Velázquez); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt (1875-1952), L.2228b (£3.15); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Narrative Folds (Pop-up exhibition), The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/06/2013-01/06/2013

Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1978 (March - May)

Literature

Véliz, Zahira, Spanish Drawings in the Courtauld Gallery: complete catalogue, London, 2011
no. 18
Illus. p. 93

Boubli, Lizzie, 'Sur le thème du "tableau dans le tableau": une série exemplaire de dessins en Espagne du XVIIe siècle' in 'L'Illustration. Essais d'iconographie', Paris 1999 - pp. 69-87
pp. 72-73
Illus. no. 11

Angulo Iñiguez, Diego and Alfonso E. Perez, A Corpus of Spanish Drawings, New York 1975-1988; 4 vols.
vol. II, no. 318
Illus. pl. LXXXII
as attributed provisionally to Pereda ...More

Harris, Enriqueta, 'Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute Galleries' in 'Burlington Magazine', 1978 - pp. 337-38; CXX, 902
pp. 337-38

Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1978 (March - May)
cat. no. 47

Mayer, August L., 'Los dibujos espanoles de la coleccion Witt en Londres' in 'Arte Espanol', 1926-27 - pp. 2-4; VIII, 1
as by an unknown artist influenced by Zurbaran ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, graphite: “Velasquez”.

Collector's mark: Removed from a former mount and now mounted separately with the drawing: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection