The Death of Seneca

A pen and brown wash drawing shows an elderly man reclining on a couch at the center, attended by a crowd of robed figures under swagged drapery. A kneeling woman in the lower right and a standing figure holding a tablet frame the scene in a strong diagonal. The brown ink wash gives the composition soft tonal depth.

Look closer: A small inscribed tablet held aloft at upper right, with a draped figure beside it.

Artist

Pierre Peyron

Date

ca. 1773

Medium

Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3725 × 2656 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Donald Posner, 2005