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Biblical Scene

Artist/Maker (French, 1767–1824)
Dateca. 1800
MediumGraphite on paper
DimensionsOverall: 7 11/16 × 10 3/4 in. (19.5 × 27.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Louise and Richard Dunn
Object number2002.1
Status
Not on view
More Information
This unidentified scene has some similarities with the story of the death of Simon Magus, a sorcerer in the apocryphal Acts of Peter. Simon Magus, who was performing magic in the Roman Forum, flew up into the air to prove himself a god. The kneeling apostle Peter prayed to God to stop him, and Simon Magus stopped in mid-air, fell to the ground and broke his legs. The gathered crowd, previously not hostile, then stoned him to death. Although the episode usually depicted is his fall, this drawing may show the moment prior to that; the artist has drawn the candelabra at right both standing and toppled over, suggestive of an imminent tumble. Mitigating against this identification, however, is the fact that the figure on the ground is prostrate and his face is not shown, while the levitating figure is surrounded by a halo of light, leading one to believe that the more worthy figure is the one on the right while the one on the floor is being punished.
Exhibition History
European Master Drawings from the Allen Memorial Art Museum
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (October 29, 2002 - June 9, 2003 )
On Line: European Drawings, 16th-19th Centuries
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 18, 2007 - January 27, 2008 )
Collections
  • European