Author: rapgal

Pen and brown ink;
230 by 190 mm

Creti is well known for these very finished studies of nudes and landscapes indicating a likely commercial savvy concerning the potential sale of his preliminary works. Here the drawing is in a vertical format of bathers in wooded landscapes, probably representing classical subjects such as Endymion or Apollo in elegant poses. As demonstrated by Marco Riccomini in his catalogue of Creti’s drawings, these were inspired by Creti’s knowledge of ancient sculptures. They were clearly drawn as works of art in their own right, and can now be found in several public and private collections. Diane De Grazia suggested a dating to the 1720s for a drawing of Apollo Standing in a River Landscape, from the Armand Hammer collection, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, about which she wrote: ‘Creti is known to have given many of his drawings to his friends, who must have appreciated their mysterious pastoral subjects and refined techniques.‘ See M. Riccomini, Donato Creti, Le opere su carta, Turin 2012, nos. 11.5, 63.3, 93.1, 96.13; and Master Drawings from the Armand Hammer Collection, exhib. cat., Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1987, p. 97, under no. 14.

Rome 1781 – 1835

Black chalk on paper

Approx 247 by 298 mm

 

Rome 1781 – 1835

Black chalk on paper

Approx 247 by 298 mm

Rome 1781 – 1835

Black chalk on paper

Approx 247 by 298 mm

Rome 1781 – 1835

Black chalk on paper

Approx 247 by 298 mm

Rome 1781 – 1835

Black chalk on paper

Approx 247 by 298 mm

Giovanni Battista Gaulli, called Baciccio

Genoa 1639-1709 Rome

Pen and brown ink and grey wash over traces of black chalk, within partial brown ink framing lines; indented for transfer

191 by 123 mm.

This study of a saint with a Crucifix was thought by a noted scholar collector to be possibly San Carlo Borromeo, but does not appear to relate to any surviving work by Gaulli. The artist was commissioned to make various paintings of similar saints in veneration with the Crucifx, but he also collaborated on a series of prints of devotional saints and it is most likely, as it is incised, that this particular study was intended for a project of that type. An example of a drawing by Gaulli for one such engraving is Il Beato Andrea Conti, in Chicago, after which the print was executed by Benoît Farjat. An impression of the latter is in Dresden; see Giovan Battista Gaulli, Il Baciccio 1639 – 1709, exhib. cat., Ariccia, Palazzo Chigi, 2000, p. 255, no. 15 (drawing) and no. 16 (print), both reproduced.

Rome 1690 – 1768

Pen and brown ink

260 by 189 mm

Attribution to Masucci was confirmed when a painting by Mausucci of the same subject came on the art market in 1971. The gesture of the Saint in the lower right study on the present sheet is the one that is adopted and developed for use in that painting. Stylistically this can be compared with another drawing, Three studies of the Madonna and a putto, sold at Sotheby’s in London on 7 December 1987, lot 122.

Rome 1690 – 1768

Pen and brown ink over traces of black chalk within grey ink framing lines; bears numbering in pen and brown ink lower right: m 139

177 by 268 mm.

This study was one of the preparatory works for the decoration of the ceiling in the Sala dei Pannini of the Casino, or Coffee House, located in the garden of the Quirinal Palace, Rome. The head studies relate to St. Peter, in the central composition on the ceiling, whose subject is Christ’s exhortation to Peter, Feed my Sheep. The larger lower study of St. Peter is the one adopted for the final composition. The separate study of the Prophet is an early sketch for one of the four ovals which surround the central section. The Casino was built for Pope Benedict XIV by the architect Ferdinando Fuga, between 1741 and 1744