A Bearded Monk Showing a Portable Altar to a Praying Child, with an Old Woman Kneeling

Art Historical Context

In the intimate drawing *A Bearded Monk Showing Portable Altar to a Pray Child, with an Old Kneeling*, Pietro Antonio Novelli captures a tender moment of religious instruction from the mid-18th to 19th century.ed in pen and brown ink with on paper (10 1/4 x 7 11/16 in.), this work exemplifies the expressive potential of monochrome techniques, where fluid lines and subtle tonal washes evoke depth, emotion, and soft lighting in a compact format ideal for sketchbooks or private study. The scene unfolds in a domestic setting, highlighting Catholic devotional life: a bearded monk gently reveals a portable altar— a foldable devotional object popular for personal prayer among the faithful—to a kneeling child in prayer, while an elderly woman joins in reverence. Such portable altars, often featuring miniature relics or images, underscored the era's emphasis on accessible piety amid Counter-Reformation influences. Novelli's focus on monks, children, and women reflects genre interests in everyday spirituality, blending tenderness with instructional gravity. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Robert Lehman Collection (1975), this drawing invites visitors to ponder the quiet transmission of faith across generations, its delicate medium preserving a snapshot of 18th-century religious culture.

About the Artist

Pietro Antonio Novelli · 1729–1804

**Pietro Antonio Novelli (1729–1804)** Pietro Antonio Novelli, a prolific Venetian painter, draughtsman, and engraver, trained under the esteemed Jacopo Amigoni and in the studio of Giambattista Pittoni, absorbing influences from Gaspare Diziani and Francesco Guardi. In 1768, he gained membership in the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia with his reception piece, *Allegory of the Arts*. Early in ...