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Object Timeline
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Drawing, Sepulcher in Egyptian Style with Death Carrying a Lamp, 1779–84
This is a Drawing. It was created by Louis-Jean Desprez. It is dated 1779–84 and we acquired it in 1938. Its medium is pen and black ink, brush and gray, blue-gray wash, graphite on off-white paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.
This atmospheric drawing shows the robed figure of death with a smoking brazier presiding over a tomb cast in a gray wash. Stark shadows describe the geometric forms of a massive sarcophagus and sepulchral niche. The simplicity of the somber interior evokes the proportions of Egyptian architecture, as well as the ancient culture’s fascination with death.
Louis-Jean Desprez was an artist of great originality with a distinct taste for the bizarre and macabre. The late eighteenth century saw a growing interest in sublime terror and morbid visions, as reflected in the visual arts and literature.
The dramatic lighting and abstracted space of Desprez’s designs were likely inspired by Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s Carceri d'invenzione (Imaginary Prisons) series, first published in 1750. In 1776 Desprez went to Rome, where Piranesi’s work was enormously popular. The following year, Desprez traveled to Naples, where he made numerous visits to tombs and catacombs.
Four of Desprez’s Egyptian-themed tomb drawings were reproduced as large aquatint prints; the artist was introduced to the intaglio printmaking technique in Rome. He admired aquatint for its capacity to produce soft tonal variations that closely resembled eerie washes of ink. Prints offered Desprez the means to disseminate his experimental architectural designs and to showcase his fertile imagination.
It is credited Museum purchase through gift of various donors and from Eleanor G. Hewitt Fund.
- Drawing, Interior of St. Peter's Illuminated, 1776–84
- pen and black ink, brush and brown wash, white gouache on cream laid paper,....
- Bequest of Joseph F. McCrindle.
- 2009-4-3
- Drawing, Sepulcher in Egyptian Style with Sphinxes and an Owl, ca. 1779–84
- pen and black ink, gray and blue-gray wash, traces of graphite on off-white....
- Museum purchase through gift of various donors and from Eleanor G. Hewitt Fund.
- 1938-88-3953
- Print, Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513
- engraving on laid paper.
- Bequest of George Campbell Cooper.
- 1896-3-39
Our curators have highlighted 3 objects that are related to this one.
- Print, Design for Cartouche Evoking Death, 1740
- engraving on white laid paper.
- Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
- 1921-6-326-7
- Bound Print, Etruscan Chimneypiece, from Diverse Maniere d'adornare i...
- etching on paper.
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gustave Gilbert.
- 1967-85-24-28
- Drawing, Project for the Tomb of the Maréchal de Belle-Isle, 1761
- black chalk, pen and black ink, point of brush and brown-black ink; gray and....
- Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.
- 1931-73-234
Its dimensions are
14.6 × 20.2 cm (5 3/4 × 7 15/16 in.)
It has the following markings
Watermark: J. HONIG
Cite this object as
Drawing, Sepulcher in Egyptian Style with Death Carrying a Lamp, 1779–84; Louis-Jean Desprez (French, active Sweden, 1743–1804); Italy; pen and black ink, brush and gray, blue-gray wash, graphite on off-white paper; 14.6 × 20.2 cm (5 3/4 × 7 15/16 in.) ; Museum purchase through gift of various donors and from Eleanor G. Hewitt Fund; 1938-88-3952
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Hewitt Sisters Collect.
