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Woman seated on the ground, known as Saint Thaïs

Maker

(artist)
1503-1540

(etcher)
1503-1540

Title

Woman seated on the ground, known as Saint Thaïs

Date of Production

(circa) 1527 - 1530

Medium

Etching on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 12.9 cm
Width: 11.3 cm

Accession Number

G.1978.PG.40

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords




Label Text

The print has been described as representing Saint Thaïs. However, it does not follow the iconography of the fourth-century penitent courtesan saint, traditionally shown burning her wealth or praying in a convent cell.

The artist’s decision to develop the drawing (D.1978.PG.96) into this etching (second state) shows him responding to demand for his work, which through prints could be disseminated more easily. The small dimensions of the print, possibly resulting from it being an early venture in etching, create an intimate tone.

Provenance

probably a French collection [as indicated by French inscription on verso]; Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein (1906-1989) [according to a former mount, now removed and in the curatorial file]; Colnaghi, London; purchased there by Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978), c. 1950; Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - The Art of Experiment: Parmigianino at The Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/05/2022-06/05/2022

Parmigianino - Paintings, Drawings, Prints, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/05/1987-12/07/1987

Literature

The Art of Experiment: Parmigianino at The Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 2022
cat. no. 26b
and on p. 150
ill. on p. 137

Jenkins, Catherine, Nadine M. Orenstein and Freyda Spira (eds.), The Renaissance of etching, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2019
no. 59

Gnann, Achim, Parmigianino: Die Zeichnungen, Petersberg 2007
p. 167 ...More

Landau, David and Peter Parshall, The Renaissance print 1470-1550, New Haven and London 1994
pp. 266-67

Parmigianino - Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Courtauld, London, 1987
cat. no. 38

Bartsch, Adam, Le peintre graveur, Vienna 1803-21
XVI.10.II ...Less

Inscriptions

Inscription: recto, lower right, grey ink : No. 63

Inscription: verso, lower centre, graphite : par Parmesan [illegible] / une des plus belles //

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