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Allegory of the Artist on the Verge of Death

c. 1780-1790
Giovanni David (Italian, 1749–1790)
An obscure painter and printmaker of the late Genoese Baroque, David studied in Rome with Domenico Corvi before returning to Genoa to make his career. This elaborate scene, filled with references to death and mortality, apparently allegorizes the artist's close brush with the Grim Reaper after a severe illness in the early 1780s.

Object Details

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