Mary in the House of Saint John

Date1858

Artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti (British Pre-Raphaelite painter, 1828–1882)

MediumWatercolor on paper

Dimensions17 5/8 × 13 5/8 in. (44.8 × 34.6 cm)
frame: 27 5/8 × 23 5/8 in. (70.2 × 60 cm)

Credit LineSpecial Purchase Fund, 1947

Object number1947-8

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsDRAWING

Label TextChristian imagery created in the 1840s and 1850s by the young Pre-Raphaelites often focused on intimate moments in the everyday lives of biblical figures. In this scene after the crucifixion, Mary visits the house of St. John. Rossetti described the concept as follows: “The Virgin would be standing in the embrasure of a deep window, at the coming on of twilight, and rising from her work to trim the lamp suspended in the centre of the cross-frame of the window. St. John, seated near her, with his tablets and writing implements on his knees, would be kindling some tinder to light the lamp which the Virgin is feeding with oil.”