Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "134099",
    "label": "St. John the Evangelist",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "drawing"
}

{
    "id": "134099",
    "contentType": "drawing",
    "title": "St. John the Evangelist",
    "description": "This drawing is a study for a fresco in the Parisian church of Les Invalides. The structure's four pendentives are each decorated with images of the Four Evangelists, and the Cleveland sheet relates to the design for St. John. La Fosse developed his ideas in numerous preparatory studies before beginning the final painting. He portrayed the religious figures with power and exuberance, imbuing his decorative scheme with unprecedented vigor. Drawings by La Fosse are difficult to find in the United States, and this sheet is an exceptional example of the artist's <em>trois crayons</em> (three-chalk) technique of using black, red, and white chalk together. The chalks are subtly blended, creating the effect of billowing drapery rather than stiff linearity.",
    "date": "c. 1700–1702",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.602",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q80026396"
    ],
    "creators": [
        12815
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Drawing"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.602/1956.602_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.602/1956.602_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.602/1956.602_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Sheet: 42 x 26.2 cm (16 9/16 x 10 5/16 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "France, 18th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1956.602"
}

{
    "tec": "black, red, and white chalk",
    "tombstone": "St. John the Evangelist, c. 1700–1702. Charles de La Fosse (French, 1636–1716). Black, red, and white chalk; sheet: 42 x 26.2 cm (16 9/16 x 10 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Alida di Nardo in memory of her husband, Antonio di Nardo, 1956.602",
    "supportMaterials": [
        {
            "description": "beige(1) laid paper"
        }
    ],
    "collection": "DR - French",
    "inscriptions": [
        {
            "inscription": "verso, center, in brown ink: 191 [underlined with flourish]; upper left, in graphite: Lot 353 [underlined] / Hotel Drouot / Vente Chardey / 14-17 Mai/77; lower left, in graphite: C. Delafosse [underlined]\r\n"
        }
    ],
    "didYouKnow": "This drawing was used primarily used by La Fosse to study the drapery that covers St. John's body. A nude drawing of the same figure is in Le Havre, France.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "<em>Drawing Before 1800</em>. Exh. Cat. Appleton, WI: Wooster Art Center at Lawrence University, 1968.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: no. 23"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Rosenberg, Pierre. <em>French Master Drawings of the 17th &amp; 18th Centuries in North American Collections</em>. Translated by Catherine Johnston. Exh. Cat. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1972.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: no. 67"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Rosenberg, Pierre. \"Dessins français du XVIIe et du XVIIIe siècle dans les collections américaines.\" <em>L'Oeil</em>, nos. 212-213 (August-September 1972): 10-15.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 12"
        },
        {
            "citation": "<em>Rubenism</em>. Exh. Cat. Providence: Brown University, 1975.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 86-87, no. 23"
        },
        {
            "citation": "\"Drawings on Exhibition.\" <em>Drawing</em> 16, no. 6 (March - April 1995): 131-133.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 131"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Vercier, Paul. \"Trois dessins de Charles de La Fosse pour la Chapelle du château de Versailles.\" <em>Versalia </em>1, no. 3 (2000): 128-139.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 136-38; Reproduced: p. 136 (recto), 137 (verso)"
        },
        {
            "citation": "DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. <em>Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 98-99, pp. 287-88, no. 35; Reproduced: p. 99"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Hedley, Jo. \"Toward a New Century: Charles de La Fosse as a Draftsman.\" <em>Master Drawings</em> 39, no. 3 (Autumn 2001): 223-259.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 248, p. 258, no. 58"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Gustin-Gomez, Clémentine. <em>Charles de La Fosse, 1636-1716: Catalogue Raisonné</em>. Dijon: Éditions Faton, 2006.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 186, no. D.24"
        }
    ],
    "catalogueRaisonne": "Gustin-Gomez D.24",
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.602",
    "creditline": "Gift of Alida di Nardo in memory of her husband, Antonio di Nardo",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 06:51:59.247000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.602/1956.602_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 134099,
    "dept": "Drawings",
    "coll": "DR - French",
    "med": "black, red, and white chalk",
    "creatorTags": [
        "male"
    ],
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}

{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.602/1956.602_web.jpg",
    "mediaId": "3acf78fe6520d3e7"
}