The Virgin and Saint Joseph with Saint Anthony of Padua Seated in the Heavens Interceding for the Souls in Purgatory, While an Angel Pours Fluid from a Vase onto the Crowd Below (recto and verso)
1690/1710
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brown and gray wash, and white opaque watercolor (recto) and pen and brown-black ink (verso) on laid paper
Dimensions
36.3 × 22.3 cm (14 5/16 × 8 13/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
248311
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
A prolific draftsman, Pietro Antonio de’ Pietri also made engravings and etchings throughout his career, creating 20 known prints. This double-sided drawing was the preparatory design for his most successful of these. On this side, Pietri drew his composition solely in pen and ink, the media he used in his early conceptual sketches. In his fully finished drawing on the other side he used brown ink and wash and opaque watercolor to create picturesque effects to be captured by the craftsman who t...
Art Historical Context
This evocative drawing by Pietro Antonio di Pietri captures a powerful scene of divine intercession. In the heavens, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph appear alongside Saint Anthony of Padua, who advocates for the suffering souls in purgatory below. An angel dramatically pours fluid from a vase symbolizing the flow of grace or mercy reaching the crowd of the faithful on earth. Created between 1690 and 1710, the work reflects the deep Catholic devotion of the era, when images of saints bridging heaven and earth offered comfort and spiritual encouragement to viewers. Di Pietri’s technique enhances the composition’s emotional impact. On the recto, he combines pen and brown ink with brown and gray washes and white opaque watercolor to create luminous highlights and shadowy depths, giving the heavenly figures an ethereal glow against the darker purgatorial realm. The verso, rendered in pen and brown-black ink, likely offers preparatory studies or related motifs. Measuring just 36.3 by 22.3 centimeters on laid paper, this intimate yet dynamic sheet exemplifies how drawings of the period served both as devotional tools and as vital stages in the creative process for larger paintings or frescoes. Housed in the Prints and Drawings department of the Art Institute of Chicago, the work invites modern visitors to appreciate the artistry and faith that shaped such visions of redemption.