An angel seated on a cloud, playing a harp

Details

Giovanni Battista Gaulli, called il Baciccio (Genoa 1639-1709 Rome)
An angel seated on a cloud, playing a harp
with number '16' (verso)
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, squared in black chalk
10 7/8 x 8 7/8 in. (27.7 x 22.4 cm)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 21 January 2004, lot 15.

Literature

N. Strasser, Dessins italiens de la Renaissance au siècle des Lumières. Collection Jean Bonna, Geneva, 2010, no. 103, ill.

Exhibited

Paris, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Dessins italiens de la collection Jean Bonna, 2006.

Brought to you by

Furio Rinaldi

frinaldi@christies.com +1 212 636 2328

Lot Essay

A typical example of Gaulli’s studies for his crowded, illusionistic ceiling paintings, this sheet has been associated with several similar figures in decorative schemes of his invention, including those at the Roman churches of Sant’Agnese in Agone and the Gesù (1671-1672), his masterpiece. However, the finish and squaring of the figure in the present sheet suggests the study was used for an angel in yet another work.

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