Since the back side of the paper was originally blank, and has doodlings drawn on it that are somewhat related to the theme (a guy with a sword through him, at least) it seems less likely it was torn from a book. It’s possible someone tore it from a book and doodled on the back of the page themselves before framing it, but my guess is the doodling on the back is probably also by the same artist.
I notice the letters “ent” in modern typeface near the bottom left corner. What’s that all about? It also looks like there could be a blurry signature or some writing near the bottom left.
I’m going with the consensus that it’s a scene of some monks coming across a dying or recently dead man who’s fallen victim to violence in the country. The dying man looks pale in comparison to the others, suggesting that he’s bled out from a stabbing wound - presumably the blade on the ground is the murder weapon. The kneeling one is checking for a heartbeat, the one with the bottle has administered some sort of medicine (ether? smelling salt?), the second kneeling one is praying for his soul. The one with his hand on his chin is the senior of the group, watching with a sort of disaffected interest.
I don’t think the two figures in the background are part of the same party, nor are they the murderers. They’re drawn sort of transparent - their cloaks seem to bleed directly into the background behind them. I think they must be ghostly figures observing the death of the fallen man for their own reasons - perhaps they’re departed family members, or they were members of the same order as the attending monks, or perhaps they themselves died in that same region.
I don’t know much about (botany?), but i’d guess from the grass and the trees and the rocky outcroppings that the scene is set in the summer somewhere in southern Europe - Italy or Spain, perhaps.
I have no idea if there’s an actual event or legend this picture could be portraying, but all in all it’s well drawn and pretty evocative.
IMHO, the seated figure roughly in the middle of the back of the page looks like a bishop, cardinal, or even a Pope, especially since there seems to be a canopy over the chair. The other sketches on the back are consistent with a swordsman, which in turn is consistent with the dead swordsman in the main or more-finished picture, but the figure in the chair is different and thus presumably another clue.
"Jesus appeared in a shaft of light and exclaimed, “Saul, why do you persecute me?” and struck him blind.
Ah yes, our kind, forgiving and loving Jesus. Whata Guy! :rolleyes:
For some reason, it makes me think Don Quixote, but there isn’t much in the image to support that over any other injured swordsman.
The blade is awfully short for a dagger, but I’ve never seen a dagger with the handle/guard that is there. My first assumption was a broken sword, which implies a recent fight and that the injured/dead man is the casualty.
the sword looks 16th century or even later (same with the boots.) it was a clean kill with the victim falling backwards flat, away from his weapon. it may have been a quick duel or an ambush with a firearm.
the monks look like they were walking (slowly) and there are even two onlookers in the background. they are checking for breathing or a heartbeat. that means the body is still warm and they may have witnessed the killing.
I’m going to take a somewhat wild guess that the doodles on the back are someone’s attempts (possibly a child) at teaching themselves how to draw, and that they’re possibly copied off of illustrations from the same book this was taken from. The picture may have been framed to make studying it easier, after the doodles were made on it.
I desaturated the image so it wasn’t all brown and then tried the google image search again, but that didn’t turn up anything useful.
Maybe it’s an early storyboard for “CSI: Barcelona 1695”.
How so? In the story of the Good Samaritan, the religious men (priest and Levite) avoid the injured man, while the despised Samaritan helps him. Here the religious men, the Dominicans, are doing their best to help the victim. There is no figure equivalent to the Samaritan on the scene. The only thing the illustration has in common with the story of the Good Samaritan is the finding of a victim of violence in the road.
I think the figures on the back are holding pistols, not swords. It’s especially obvious on the second one in the first row. Also it doesn’t look like a child’s work.
I still think it looks like there is a signature or something written, down near the lower left on the back. Just to the right of the figure of a woman, going up and to the right from the bottom of the page. But the scan is too low resolution to be able to see for sure.
