Images(3)

A draped kneeling male figure in profile facing right with additional studies of drapery and a hand holding an urn

Attributed to Cristoforo il Pomarancio Roncalli Italian, 1552 - 1626

Datelate 16th-early 17th Century

Period16th/17th century

Classification(s)

Art / Drawings

Object TypeDrawing

Extent1 sheet

Registration NumberFAS/D/31

DescriptionThe drawing shows a kneeling male figure in profile, facing right, with right arm raised. Two separate studies on the recto show details of the hand offering a vessel at top left, and a drapery study at the bottom. It is a preparatory figure study for an unknown painting, possibly an Adoration of the Magi. Roncalli used this drawing to study the fall of light on the drapery folds of the figure, while the face is rendered masterfully through a few light strokes, without details and minimal shading.Annotations and MarksOn recto, bottom right, in brown ink: 'Lanfranco'; bottom left on mount, in brown ink: 'No. 1859____ ____so'; bottom right on mount in pencil: '(11)'; On verso, top left corner, in pencil circled and crossed, 'No.1'; centre, in red chalk: 'No. 208'; top right corner in pencil circled: '27'; Centre top in pencil: 'Rosselli'; illegible writing in brown ink along the bottom edge in the centre partly covered by the mount; right corner, in pencil, museum inventory no: 'D15/ 1673-74/ FAS/D/21'.Material

Black chalk on laid paper, laid down on a larger sheet with black chalk framing lines, laid down on a plain mount.

Technique

Drawing

Place of Manufacture

Tuscany, Italy

DimensionsSupport: 40.2 x 28.1 cm Mounted (historical): 48.6 x 35.6 cmCuratorial RemarksThis drawing seems to have been in the same collection as the drawing FAS/D/204 as both are laid down on a sheet with crude black chalk framing lines, and laid down on a plain mount. Both drawings include an annotation in brown ink in the same handwriting on lower right attributing the work to 'Lanfranco'. A number in red chalk is also included on the verso of both drawings.ProvenanceAcquired for the museum in 1933 from an unknown private collection in Malta. Published ReferencesM.A.R. (1933-34), p.xvii, no. 61
Stefania Lumetta, 'Dessins acquis par Vincenzo Bonello en 1933-1934 pour le département des Arts graphiques du musée des Beaux-Arts de La Vallette, Malte', in Art Italies, n° 22, 2016, pp. 125-6
Stefania Lumetta, I Grandi Disegni del National Museum of Fine Arts di Valletta, Malta. L'Acquisizione di Vincenzo Bonello negli anni di curatela 1933-34, unpublished thesis, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Storico Artistici, Università degli Studi di Genova, 2013; pp. 103-5.

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