id: 151377
accession number: 1983.217
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1983.217
updated: 2023-03-14 12:01:21.543000
The Fall of Simon Magus, c. 1745– 1750. Studio of Pompeo Batoni (Italian, 1708–1787). Oil on canvas; framed: 207 x 133 x 10.5 cm (81 1/2 x 52 3/8 x 4 1/8 in.); unframed: 183 x 108 cm (72 1/16 x 42 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1983.217
title: The Fall of Simon Magus
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1745– 1750
creation date earliest: 1745
creation date latest: 1750
current location: 217 Italian Baroque
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright:
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culture: Italy, 18th century
technique: oil on canvas
department: European Painting and Sculpture
collection: P - Italian 18th Century
type: Painting
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Pompeo Batoni (Italian, 1708–1787) - artist
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measurements: Framed: 207 x 133 x 10.5 cm (81 1/2 x 52 3/8 x 4 1/8 in.); Unframed: 183 x 108 cm (72 1/16 x 42 1/2 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Year in Review for 1983
opening date: 1984-02-22T05:00:00
The Year in Review for 1983. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-April 8, 1984).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Collecting Drawings in England. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) ( November 3, 1987-January 17, 1988).
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PROVENANCE
Earl of Shrewsbury, Alton Towers (1838, sale 1857 as Subleyras), sold, 1983.
date:
footnotes:
citations:
Somerville & Simpson (London, England), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1983.
date:
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
Saints Peter and Paul came to Rome to win converts to Christianity soon after Christ’s death, while Simon Magus, claiming to be the son of God, attempted to prove his divinity by flying. Due to Saint Peter’s prayers, the demons supporting Simon abandoned him and he plummeted to his death.This work is probably a studio copy after a lost oil sketch for a huge altarpiece commissioned in 1746 for Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Because of the humidity in Saint Peter’s, which quickly ruined paintings, the work was to have been translated into a massive mosaic. However, for reasons that remain unclear, Batoni’s mosaic was never created.
wall description:
Saints Peter and Paul came to Rome to win converts to Christianity soon after Christ’s death, while Simon Magus, claiming to be the son of God, attempted to prove his divinity by flying. Due to Saint Peter’s prayers, the demons supporting Simon abandoned him and he plummeted to his death.This work is either a study for or a copy of a huge altarpiece commissioned in 1746 for Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Because of the humidity in Saint Peter’s, which quickly ruined paintings, the work was to have been translated into a massive mosaic. However, for reasons that remain unclear, Batoni’s mosaic was never created.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Arnaud, Odette. "Subleyras." In Les Peintres Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Histoire des Vies et Catalogue des Oeuvres. Louis Dimier, ed., 49-92. Paris: Les Éditions G. van Oest, 1928.
page number: Mentioned: P. 78, no. 68
url:
Barsali, Isa Belli. "Documenti Vaticani per il Batoni." Studi Romani XXI, no. 3 (July-Sept. 1973): 366-372.
page number: Mentioned: P. 367; reproduced: Tav. LIX
url:
Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1983." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art LXXI, no. 2 (February, 1984): 39-79.
page number: Reproduced: p. 55; Mentioned: p. 68, no. 15
url:
Clark, Anthony M., and Edgar Peters Bowron. Pompeo Batoni: A Complete Catalogue of His Works with an Introductory Text. New York, NY: New York University Press, 1985.
page number: Mentioned: p. 28, 261; Reproduced: no. 183, pl. 171
url:
Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993.
page number: Reproduced: p. 7
url:
Groschner, Gabriele. Wen verführst Du, Thamar?: ikonographische Studien zu Gemälden der Residenzgalerie Salzburg. Salzburg, Austria: Die Residenzgalerie, 1993.
page number: Reproduced: p. 197, fig. 91
url:
Brown, Beverly Louise, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Terisio Pignatti, Oreste Ferrari, and Teresa Longyear. Giambattista Tiepolo: Master of the Oil Sketch. Milan, Italy: Electa, 1993.
page number: Reproduced: p. 49, fig. 18
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.217/1983.217_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.217/1983.217_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.217/1983.217_full.tif