Artwork
Saint James Major
Saint James Major is a chalk drawing by the Baroque artist Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. It dates from 1740 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:by later hand, lower right verso in graphite: Piazzetta / attribue / a
About this work
Overview
Saint James Major is a drawing executed in 1740 by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, a prominent Italian Rococo artist. The work is rendered in black and white chalks on light brown laid paper.
Subject & Meaning
The drawing portrays Saint James Major in a contemplative pose, aligning with Piazzetta's specialty in creating devotional religious imagery.
Technique & Style
Piazzetta's use of black and white chalks on light brown paper in Saint James Major exemplifies the nuanced tonal range characteristic of his Rococo drawings.
History & Provenance
Created in 1740, the drawing falls within Piazzetta's active period as a leading artist of religious and genre scenes in early to mid-18th-century Italy.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta was an Italian Rococo painter of religious subjects and genre scenes.
