id:			145168
accession number:	1970.338
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1970.338
updated:		2023-03-11 20:50:52.556000

Mater Dolorosa (Mourning Mother), 1776. George Romney (British, 1734–1802). Brown ink, pen and wash, with graphite underdrawing; sheet: 50.1 x 29.3 cm (19 3/4 x 11 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 1970.338

title:				Mater Dolorosa (Mourning Mother)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1776
creation date earliest:		1776
creation date latest:		1776
current location:		
creditline:			Dudley P. Allen Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	England, 18th century
technique:	brown ink, pen and wash, with graphite underdrawing
department:	Drawings
collection:	DR - British
type:		Drawing
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* George Romney (British, 1734–1802)  - artist

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measurements: Sheet: 50.1 x 29.3 cm (19 3/4 x 11 9/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:

	description:	moderately textured, thick beige laid paper
	watermarks:	

inscriptions:

	inscription:	inscribed, in brown ink, at upper center: No. 118; stamped, on verso, stamp of Alfred A. de Pass [L. 108a]
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Year in Review: 1970
	opening date:   1971-02-10T05:00:00
	<i>Year in Review: 1970</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).

	title:		Brush Drawings
	opening date:   1981-03-03T05:00:00
	<i>Brush Drawings</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (March 3-May 10, 1981).

	title:		The Birth and Flowering of British Romantic Art
	opening date:   1990-05-01T04:00:00
	<i>The Birth and Flowering of British Romantic Art</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 1-July 22, 1990).

	title:		British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art 
	opening date:   2013-02-10T00:00:00
	<i>British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art </i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Alfred A. de Pass [1861-1953, L. 108a], London
	date: ?-?
	footnotes: 	
			
			* <div><!--block-->His mark at lower right, in black ink.</div>
			
			
	citations: 	


	(Paul Drey Gallery, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
	date: ?-1970
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1970-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
The painting to which this drawing relates was never realized because an Old Master Italian canvas was donated and took its place in the chapel for which it was intended.

digital description:
George Romney drew prolifically and his vivid spontaneity is most apparent in hundreds of bold studies rendered in a highly personalized style. This preparatory drawing was for an unrealized history painting intended to decorate the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. The simplified figure of the mourning Virgin was drawn with flowing lines and heavy ribbons of wash. Romney gave form to the mournful tone of his subject with descending lines that pool at the bottom of the composition. The Virgin’s oversized, pleading hands further emphasize the pathos of his subject.

wall description:
Romney drew prolifically and his vivid spontaneity is most apparent in hundreds of bold studies rendered in a highly personalized style. This preparatory drawing was for an unrealized history painting intended to decorate the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. The simplified figure of the mourning Virgin was drawn with flowing lines and heavy ribbons of wash. Romney gave form to the mournful tone of his subject with descending lines that pool at the bottom of the composition. The Virgin’s oversized, pleading hands further emphasize the pathos of his subject.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	"Recent Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, October-December 1970." <em>Art Quarterly</em> 34, no. 2 (Summer 1971).
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 253
	url:		

	Dixon, Yvonne Romney. <em>"Designs from Fancy": George Romney's Shakespearean Drawings</em>. Washington, DC: Folger Shakespeare Library, 1998.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 219
	url:		

	Lemonedes, Heather. <em>British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
	page number: 	Mentioned: pp. 34-35, 148, no. 7; Reproduced: p. 35
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1970.338/1970.338_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1970.338/1970.338_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1970.338/1970.338_full.tif