Study for "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist"
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Object Label
The expatriate artist Charles Sprague Pearce masterfully exploited the textured paper surface and powdery charcoal medium to create this beautifully modeled head study for a now-lost monumental painting (see illustration). Details such as the figure’s protruding collarbone, bags under the eye, and stoic gaze convey the character of Saint John the Baptist as a man whose faith remains unshakable in the face of physical suffering and imminent death.
Caption
Charles Sprague Pearce (American, 1851–1914). Study for "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist", ca. 1881. Crayon on paper, sheet: 6 1/8 × 7 in. (15.6 × 17.8 cm) frame: 15 3/8 × 20 3/8 × 1 3/4 in. (39.1 × 51.8 × 4.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Sidney M. Katz, 85.243.2. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Study for "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist"
Date
ca. 1881
Medium
Crayon on paper
Classification
Dimensions
sheet: 6 1/8 × 7 in. (15.6 × 17.8 cm) frame: 15 3/8 × 20 3/8 × 1 3/4 in. (39.1 × 51.8 × 4.4 cm)
Signatures
Signed in charcoal, lower left: "CSP" [in monogram]
Inscriptions
Inscribed on recto lower left in charcoal: "Fragment"; on verso in center in graphite: "Decollation du St Jean / Baptiste / Charles Sprague Pearce"
Credit Line
Gift of Sidney M. Katz
Accession Number
85.243.2
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