Two Saints in Adoration 1575 - 1613

Ventura Salimbeni made this pen and brown wash drawing called "Two Saints in Adoration" in Italy, sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century. The sketch depicts two haloed figures kneeling in apparent worship before a sort of altar, on which a statue sits amidst clouds filled with cherubic figures. The Catholic church in Salimbeni’s Italy was a major patron of the arts, but it was also an institution under immense pressure. The Protestant Reformation was in full swing, so the Church sought to reassert its authority through what became known as the Counter-Reformation. The Council of Trent, which ended in 1563, insisted that art should communicate Catholic dogma effectively. Religious art of this period therefore often emphasizes the importance of saints, the sacraments, and the authority of the Church. Drawings like this one were often studies for larger paintings or frescoes intended for churches or chapels, and as art historians, we can compare the drawing to other works by Salimbeni, as well as to the broader output of artists working at the time, to better understand the place of drawings such as this in early modern Italian society.