Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011471Three Studies of Angels for a Pendentive (recto)
Also known as: Studies of Angels for Pendentives; Three Studies for an Angel or Putto in a Pendentive
About the Artwork
In 1590, a generation after Michelangelo’s death, the dome he designed for Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome was finally completed. In 1597 Pope Clement VIII commissioned the mosaic decoration of the interior of the dome, choosing Cristoforo Roncalli in part because of his training in Florence, an origin he shared with Michelangelo. Roncalli made this preparatory drawing for the angels that would appear at each side of the four Evangelists in the trapezoidal spaces where the dome meets the supporting arches, called pendentives. Roncalli practiced rendering the foreshortened human form in three studies across the sheet, which are early stages of the design.
Provenance
Capitaine Carlo Prayer, Milan (Lugt 2044, lower center, in red ink). Juan and Felix Bernasconi, Milan (see photo of collector's signature from sales catalogue, Christie's, London, 6-7 July 1987, no. 71). [W. M. Brady & Co., NY]
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Cristoforo Roncalli (Italian, 1552–1626)
- Date
- 1599/1604
- Medium
- red chalk; squared in red chalk (left half), framing lines in red chalk
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 27.8 x 35.3 cm (10 15/16 x 13 7/8 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
- Accession no.
- 1989.45.a
More by Cristoforo Roncalli in museum collections
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00003575
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00004361
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00004362
Three Studies of Angels for a Pendentive (recto); Studies for Christ Meeting His Mother on the Road to Calvary, Studies of an Angel in a Pendentive (verso)
Cristoforo Roncalli1599/1604 · Drawing
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011470
Open-access museum record · AT-00011471
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