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Image for Woman Praying at a Deathbed
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Woman Praying at a Deathbed

Benjamin Vautier (Swiss and German, 1829-1898) (Artist)
1864
pencil with white on paper
(18th and 19th Centuries )

Vautier, a prolific and commercially successful artist during his life time, is often grouped with the best known German academic genre painters of the 19th century, such as Franz von Defregger and Ludwig Knaus. Like Defregger and Knaus, his works were very fashionable, and circulated widely as prints and photographs.

Vautier had studied in Düsseldorf, and after 1858 he settled there. Throughout his life he undertook a journeys into the countryside during which he made studies that would become the basis for later finished works. Peasant life in the Black Forest was a favorite theme. He was particularly skilled as capturing nuanced emotions through gesture and objects. In this drawing the open Bible on the table and what seems to be a rosary on the floor suggest a devout life and the promise of salvation after death.

Inscription

[Signature] At bottom right: B Vautier 64; [Inscription] Below signature, partially legible: Duss (?)

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Commissioned by William T. Walters, Baltimore, ca. 1863; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

Exhibitions

2017 Training the Eye: 19th-Century Drawing.

Conservation

Date Description Narrative
1/9/2017 Treatment examined for exhibition; other; re-housed
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Geographies

Germany, Düsseldorf (Place of Origin)

Measurements

H: 10 1/4 x W: 8 1/8 in. (26 x 20.6 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by William T. Walters

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

37.1299

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Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

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