Pietro della Vecchia
(Vicenza, 1603 – Venezia, )
The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen
Pen, brown ink and brown wash.
187 x 150 mm – 7 3/8 x 5 7/8 in.
This remarkable drawing illustrates the Saint Stephen’s martyrdom, sentenced to stoning for blasphemy, episode from Acts of the Apostles ( verse 56 to 58 ). A scholarly preacher known for his well-argued speeches, he was the first Christian martyr convicted after the death of Christ. The scene evokes the moment when Etienne, after being dragged out of the city of Jerusalem, is stoned by Jews in front of the Damascus Gate. Represented in the center, surrounded by the agitated and hateful crowd which throws stones at him, he raises an arm towards heaven to invoke the Lord and justify his last words : Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Formerly attributed to Giovanni Balducci, our sheet is no longer part of the body of works of this artist established by the specialist Mauro Vincenzo Fontana[ 1 ] in 2019.
The attribution to Pietro della Vecchia was proposed by Mr Louis Antoine Prat and confirmed by Mr Pierre Rosenberg. Our drawing is reminiscent of the style and schematisation of a drawing kept at the Louvre (INV RF 40971) and donated by Louis-Antoine and Véronique Prat in 1984.
Condition report: mounted in a false margin, beautiful freshness, fold in the lower left corner.
[ 1 ] Mauro Vincenzo Fontana, Itinera Tridentina. Giovanni Balducci, Alfonso Gesualdo e la riforma delle arti a Napoli con un catalogo dei dipinti e dei dirgni dell’artista, Artemiode, 2019, p. 325, n ° E41 : Lapidazione di santo Stefano Penna, acquarello su carta, 187 x 151 mm. Ubicazione sconosciuta. Provenienza: mercato antiquariato.
