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