Blessed Stanislaus Kostka Receiving Communion from the Angels Assisted by Saint Barbara Artist: Francesco Vanni (Italian, 1564–1610)

ca. 1605

Prints and Drawings

By appointment, Duffy Study Room

With just a few forceful strokes of his pen, Vanni set out the essence of his composition for a painting depicting the young Stanislaus Kostka (1550–1567) receiving Communion from two angels. According to legend, Kostka fell seriously ill while lodging in a Lutheran house and thus was unable to summon a priest to administer the last rites. He prayed to Saint Barbara, who appeared, along with two angels who performed the holy rite. Kostka recovered, went to Rome, and became a novitiate in the Society of Jesus, but he lived only ten more months. Vanni’s painting of this subject was made for the Jesuit church of San Vigilio in Siena, very likely around 1605, the year Kostka was beatified.

Medium

Pen and brown ink

Dimensions

sheet: 3 13/16 × 2 5/8 in. (9.7 × 6.6 cm)

Credit Line

Frederick M. Clapp, B.A. 1901, M.A. 1911, Fund

Accession Number

2012.38.1

Geography

Made in Italy

Culture

Italian

Period

17th century

Classification

Drawings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Stefan von Licht (1880-1931, Vienna);
Dr. William Suida (Vienna and NY);
by descent, private collection, CT
Bibliography
  • John J. Marciari et al., Francesco Vanni: Art in Late Renaissance Siena, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2013), 205–6, no. 75
  • "Acquisitions," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin: Online Supplement (accessed December 21, 2012), 59
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

religious art, sketches

Subject

Christianity angels (spirits) halos (glories) men religions and religious concepts saints sketches women

Marks

LR, truncated, collector's stamp in blue ink: Stefan von Licht (Lugt 789b)

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

View IIIF manifest

The International Image Interoperability Framework, or IIIF, is an open standard for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. Visit iiif.io to learn more

Linked Art

API response for this object

Linked Art is a Community working together to create a shared Model based on Linked Open Data to describe Art.