The Veronese Print

J. Carroll Beckwith

ca. 1890 · Black chalk and pastel on grey wove paper · The American Wing

Beckwith studied painting in Paris with the French portraitist Carolus-Duran (1837–1917), who also taught John Singer Sargent. Carolus-Duran encouraged his students to search for artistic role models among the great masters of the past. Beckwith suggests his admiration for the Renaissance painter Paolo Veronese (1528–1588) by using a print of the lower portion of his Madonna in Glory with Saint Sebastian and Other Saints (Church of San Sebastiano, Venice) as a backdrop for this portrait sketch. Beckwith’s use of Italian art signifies his own sophistication and erudition, and it may also suggest that the young woman (model Minnie Clark) is a modern Madonna.

Artist

J. Carroll Beckwith

Date

ca. 1890

Medium

Black chalk and pastel on grey wove paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Janos Scholz, 1949