Description
The figure in this drawing closely resembles a number of trumpeting angels in drawings that Edgar Degas made between 1856 and 1858 in preparation for an ambitious but ultimately unrealized history painting on the subject of Saint John the Evangelist accompanied by an angel. Rather than referring to any single passage in the Book of Revelation, Degas distilled an image from passages describing seven trumpeting angels who unleash destruction on earth with their blasts, the voice of Christ that addresses John in loud tones "like a trumpet," and individual angels who lead and instruct the Evangelist.
Provenance
Monsieur Romanelli (?-1936); (Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Dessins, tableaux, estampes par Cézanne, Degas, Forain...tout appartenant à monsieur R., November 21, 1936, no. 8) (1936); Professor François Lyon, Lyon (?-?); (Hector Brame-Jean Lorenceau, Paris, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?-1976); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1976-)
Accession Number
1976.130
Medium
black chalk
Dimensions
Sheet: 44.1 x 54 cm (17 3/8 x 21 1/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland
