The Spanish Steps (1898–99): Art, History and Details

The Spanish Steps (1898–99) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Maurice Prendergast (American, born Newfoundland [now Canada], 1858–1924).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Executed during Prendergast's first trip to Italy, he selected a classic Roman tourist site, theatrical with its sweeping curves, and depicted three dozen red-robed Catholic seminarians flowing down the carefully delineated monumental staircase.

Object facts

• Title: The Spanish Steps
• Date: 1898–99
• Creator attribution: Maurice Prendergast (American, born Newfoundland [now Canada], 1858–1924)
• Culture: America
• Type: Monotype
• Technique: color monotype
• Dimensions: Image: 29.7 x 19 cm (11 11/16 x 7 1/2 in.)
• Collection: PR - Monotype
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1982.167

A detail from the museum

Maurice Prendergast became influenced by Impressionism after studying for two years in Paris during the 1880s.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mathews, Nancy Mowll, Maurice Prendergast, and Elizabeth Kennedy. Prendergast in Italy. 2009.
• Lee, Sherman E. "Year in Review for 1982." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (1983): 3-55.
• Rhys, Hedley Howell. Maurice Prendergast, 1859-1924. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.