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Pieter Jansz. Pourbus

Study for The Last Judgment, ca. 1550 - 1551

Now On View

Description

Maker

Title

Study for The Last Judgment

Year

ca. 1550 - 1551

Medium

Pen and ink, brush and wash, and white lead heightening over black chalk on toned laid paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

36.4 x 28.6 cm (14 5/16 x 11 1/4 inches)

Type

Credit

Bequest of John M. Crawford, Jr.

Object Number

1989.110.2

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Drawing Closer

March 12 - September 4, 2022

This crowded composition visualizes the end times as imagined in Christian belief, when Jesus, seated here at the upper center, will return to judge the living and the dead. Filled with references to Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, which was painted just a decade earlier, this drawing was a final stage in the preparation of a painted panel commissioned by the judges of the city of Bruges. Carefully built up with layers of ink, wash, and chalk, it was produced as a model for patrons to review as they considered what the final painted version should look like.

Design and Description

January 27 - April 9, 2006

Pieter Pourbus was the preeminent painter in the city of Bruges in the mid-16th century. He was responsible for integrating Italian style with traditional Netherlandish subject matter. This drawing is a modello for a panel painting depicting the Last Judgment that Pourbus completed in 1551 for the Palace of Justice in Bruges (pictured below). Pourbus borrowed the division of heaven and earth and arrangement of saints from traditional Netherlandish interpretations of the subject. The continuous, swirling movement and dramatically posed, monumental figures, however, are features reflecting Italian versions of the scene, such as Michelangelo’s fresco in the Sistine Chapel, which was known across Europe through printed reproductions.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Study for The Last Judgment with the accession number of 1989.110.2. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.