The Emperor Commodus Killing a Leopard
date: label: Date
content: 1596 or before
name: label: Artist
content: Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus, Flemish, 1523–1605
label: Collaborator
content: Luigi Alamanni, Italian, 1558–1603
notes: label: Catalogue Status
content: Research in Progress
label: Description
content: Recto: View of an arena with a leopard at center, lunging towards a man who throws up his arms in terror. The leopard’s cage is in the foreground. Emperor Commodus, looking down from the audience at upper right, holds a bow, having just fired an arrow at the big cat. The arrow can be seen in mid-air. It will strike the leopard in the back, saving the man.
label: Description
content: Verso: Rough sketch of the same subject as the recto, here showing only Commodus and the man with his arms outstretched. Italian inscription relating to the recto. Both are in the hand of Luigi Alamanni.
place: label: made in
content: Florence, Tuscany, Italy
setName: label: See more items in
content: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection
label: See more items in
content: Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Museum purchase through gift of various donors
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 1901-39-1492
objectType: label: Type
content: figures
label: Object Name
content: Drawing
label: Type
content: Drawing
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Recto: pen and brown ink, brush and black wash over black chalk on laid paper. Verso: pen and brown ink on laid paper.
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 10.6 × 14.3 cm (4 3/16 × 5 5/8 in.)