{
"data": {
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"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Descent into Limbo, c. 1490\u20131500. Giovanni Antonio da Brescia (Italian), after Andrea Mantegna (Italian, about 1431\u20131506). Engraving; sheet: 41.2 x 28.2 cm (16 1/4 x 11 1/8 in.); mat size: 56 x 40.7 cm (22 1/16 x 16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1926.261",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Descent into Limbo",
"creation_date": "c. 1490\u20131500",
"creation_date_earliest": 1490,
"creation_date_latest": 1500,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"Italy"
],
"technique": "engraving",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Prints",
"collection": "PR - Engraving",
"type": "Print",
"measurements": "Sheet: 41.2 x 28.2 cm (16 1/4 x 11 1/8 in.); Mat Size: 56 x 40.7 cm (22 1/16 x 16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"sheet": {
"height": 0.412,
"height_inch": 16,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.25,
"width": 0.282,
"width_inch": 11,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.125
},
"mat size": {
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"height_inch": 22,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.0625,
"width": 0.407,
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}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
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"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 357426,
"title": "Italian and German Prints of the 15th Century",
"description": "Italian and German Prints of the 15th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29, 1933-January 3, 1934).",
"opening_date": "1933-11-29T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 185234,
"title": "Early Italian Engraving: 1460's - 1530's",
"description": "Early Italian Engraving: 1460's - 1530's. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 25-October 27, 2002).",
"opening_date": "2002-08-25T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 309634,
"title": "Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders",
"description": "Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-October 6, 2019).",
"opening_date": "2019-07-07T04:00:00"
}
],
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{
"description": "Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; August 25-October 27, 2002. \"Early Italian Engravings: 1460s - 1530s.\"",
"opening_date": "2002-08-25T00:00:00"
}
]
},
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"description": "This subject, also known as the Harrowing of Hell, recounts Christ\u2019s descent into limbo, the first circle of hell, to liberate the souls of Old Testament saints. The church taught that those who lived and died in an era without the Christian sacraments were relegated to a lower place until Christ could come redeem them. Here Christ, holding the banner of the Resurrection, enters through a doorway. Broken from its hinges, the door has fallen to the ground over which Christ triumphantly walks. A group of figures await their redemption, including Adam and Eve to the right. Above, a group of demons emerge from the cavern, sounding trumpets to announce Christ\u2019s arrival.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79999932"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1926.261-descent-into-limbo"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Prasse, Leona. \"The Engraving of Andrea Mantegna.\" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 43, no. 4 (April 1956): 59-62.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 61",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25142121"
}
],
"catalogue_raisonne": "Hind V(II).19.9a",
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1926.261",
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"date_created": "2019-06-10T13:53:47",
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"creditline": "Dudley P. Allen Fund",
"image_credit": null,
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"athena_id": 108557,
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"description": "Giovanni Antonio da Brescia (Italian)",
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"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1926-06-09T00:00:00",
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"date_text": "c. 1490\u20131500",
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"updated_at": "2026-08-21 12:43:13.155000"
}
}