ST. LAWRENCE TRIUMPHS OVER MARTYRDOM
Maella was one of the most successful Spanish artists employed at the court of Bourbon kings Charles III and Charles IV. This sheet depicts St. Lawrence, who was burned alive. Flanked by two angels, the saint ascends on a cloud in the center of the composition holding a grill, symbolic of his martyrdom. The drawing is squared for transfer, indicating its preparatory function for a larger painting. Maella is rarely represented in American museums, and this drawing documents his stature as one of the leading artists of eighteenth-century Spain.
Mariano Salvador Maella (1739-1819), St. Lawrence, ca. 1700