Crew Abandoning Ship (recto) Sketches of Corinthian Columns (verso)

1598·Pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash, over traces of black chalk, on cream laid paper·37.4 × 27 cm (14 3/4 × 10 11/16 in.)

<p>This sheet presents a series of studies of ships in different action scenes. In the upper left, Tavarone rendered a ship in full sail with the whole crew depicted. To the right, fainter strokes render the outlines of other vessels mid-sail. In the sheet’s dramatic lower register, a vessel lilts far on its right side, while sailors bend under the weight of the items they carry off board the sinking ship. For the small, mercantile city-state of Genoa, shipwrecks were events of commercial and political consequence. They served as a reminder of the risky and uncertain fortunes of a society built on maritime trade.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1598
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash, over traces of black chalk, on cream laid paper
Dimensions: 37.4 × 27 cm (14 3/4 × 10 11/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Lazzaro Tavarone

Artist

Lazzaro Tavarone

Painting

Lazzaro Tavarone (1556–1641) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance and Mannerist period, active mainly in his native Genoa and in Spain.

Genoa

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WW-1629-132643