Saint Charles Borromeo intervenes for the Plague-ridden
XVII century. Grey-brown wash, Pencil, Pencil ground on laid paper.Not on display
The upper register of the drawing depicts Christ with the lightning bolt of the plague in his right hand, surrounded by angels with more darts and flaming swords. The Virgin raises her hands in supplication, and a group of angels show the Cross and the Attributes of the Passion. In the lower register, Saint Charles Borromeo is kneeling with the Holy Nail in the right hand and is surrounded by corpses and the dying. In the background, the city walls of Milan can be observed.
It is a preparatory drawing with notable differences from the final work, which was painted for the Minor Clerics of Salamanca and is now held at the Nueva Catedral (New Cathedral) of that city. Another drawing for the same composition is kept in the National Library. This one in the Museo del Prado, of somewhat inferior quality but faithful in details, may be nothing more than a contemporary copy produced in Camilo’s workshop.
Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de dibujos T. I. Dibujos españoles, siglos XV-XVII / por A. E. Pérez Sánchez, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 1972, p.46
