(Rome 1643-1697 Zagarola) The Martyrdom of Saint Paul Miki and his companions, pen and brown ink, over red chalk, brown wash, on laid paper, watermark "double arrow and monogram M in a circle ", a study of Saint Jerome in a landscape and the sketch of a bearded man in profile on the reverse, pen and brown ink, 30 x 42,2 cm, browned, somewhat stained, mounted, unframed,(Sch)

Provenance:
private collection, Italy.

In the present drawing three different stages of preparation can be distuinguished. The recto is executed with a high degree of detail and shows the martyrdom of Saint Paul Miki and his companions. The figure study for Saint Jerome is represented at the left part of the sheet’s reverse; whereas on its right side three head studies of a bearded man are visible. The story of the Martyrdom of Saints Paul Miki and Nagasaki on February 5, 1597 became only known when Pope Urban VIII ordered the canonisation of 26 clergymen, including three members of the Jesuit order to which Paul Miki belonged to, and six Spanish and Portuguese members of the order and 17 Franciscan monks. There are only few contemporary depictions of the historic event; all saints were depicted in Franciscan habit due to the simplification of rendition. Examples can be found in a painting by Tanzio da Varallo, which once decorated the altar of the Franciscan monastary Santa Maria delle Grazie in Varallo (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan) and in a large altar painting by Francesco Maffei for San Francesco in Schio. In both paintings the martyrs are nailed to the cross in upright position, whereas in the present drawing they are fixed upsight down on a Y-shaped cross. This way of depiction is frequently found in the 17th century depictions when particularly Japanese martyrs who were mostly members of the Augustine order were represented with their martyr’s death.