Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, with female companions engaged in needlework c.1580-1605
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash, heightened with white. | 19.9 x 27.5 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 904762
![904762.jpg 904762.jpg](https://col.rct.uk/sites/default/files/styles/rctr-scale-1300-500/public/334073-1351163565.jpg?itok=lvxiJu3A)
Johannes Stradanus (Bruges 1523-Florence 1605)
904762.jpg c.1580-1605
![904762.tif 904762.tif](https://col.rct.uk/sites/default/files/styles/rctr-scale-1300-500/public/collection-online/e/8/334005-1351162151.jpg?itok=M8nFnASQ)
Johannes Stradanus (Bruges 1523-Florence 1605)
904762.tif c.1580-1605
![904762.tif 904762.tif](https://col.rct.uk/sites/default/files/styles/rctr-scale-1300-500/public/collection-online/e/a/318595-1346844123.jpg?itok=SNOBqNWH)
Johannes Stradanus (Bruges 1523-Florence 1605)
904762.tif c.1580-1605
![](https://col.rct.uk/sites/default/files/styles/rctr-scale-1300-500/public/334073-1351163565.jpg?itok=lvxiJu3A)
![](https://col.rct.uk/sites/default/files/styles/rctr-scale-1300-500/public/collection-online/5/c/170567-1297761369.jpg?itok=4S_XhE3P)
![](https://col.rct.uk/sites/default/files/styles/rctr-scale-1300-500/public/collection-online/e/8/334005-1351162151.jpg?itok=M8nFnASQ)
![](https://col.rct.uk/sites/default/files/styles/rctr-scale-1300-500/public/collection-online/e/a/318595-1346844123.jpg?itok=SNOBqNWH)
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A drawing of a richly decorated room in which four seated women are making embroidery, threads, needle-point and lace. The woman at the spinning-wheel with a child is presumably Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio Africanus and the wife of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus; on the right is another woman with a child in front of the fire. The children are presumably intended for the Gracchi. To the left of the bed, Tiberius Gracchus is seen killing the snake emerging from a dish. This is a preparatory drawing in reverse for the engraving by Theodor Galle, in an untitled series devoted to Roman history. Signed, lower right: Stradanus.
Provenance
First recorded in a Royal Collection inventory of c.1810 (Inv. A, P.18: 'Strada & old Masters 73 Drawings 55 pages')
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash, heightened with white.
Measurements
19.9 x 27.5 cm (sheet of paper)