GIOVANNI DOMENICO CAPPELLINO (GENOA 1580-1651)

Saint Clare of Assisi, having taken her vows, is welcomed at the altar by Saint Francis, surrounded by other figures

Details

GIOVANNI DOMENICO CAPPELLINO (GENOA 1580-1651)
Saint Clare of Assisi, having taken her vows, is welcomed at the altar by Saint Francis, surrounded by other figures
with inscription ‘Vanius’ (lower right)
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white, brown ink framing lines, indented
27.3 x 19.5 cm (10 3⁄4 x 7 3⁄4 in.)

Provenance

with Wildenstein & Co Ltd., London, 1976 (as Francesco Vanni).
Harold Day (1924-2010), London.
with Crispian Riley-Smith, London (Drawings from the collection of Harold Day (1924-2010), no. 5, ill., as Andrea Ansaldo).

Literature

V. Frascarolo, 'I maestri di Domenico Pellegro Piola, Giovanni Domenico Cappellino e il ruolo del disegno', in Domenico Piola e la sua bottega. Approfondimenti sulle arti genovesi nel secondo seicento genovese, Genoa, 2019, p. 18, fig. 9.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Stefano Franceschi Specialist

sfranceschi@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7752 3103

Lot Essay

Often confused with works by Giulio Benso (1592-1668), only a few drawings can be attributed to Cappellino, including two sheets in Darmstadt, (inv. AE1704 & inv. AE1704; P. Märker, Genueser Zeichnungen des 16. bis 18 Jahrhunderts im Hessischen Landesmuseum Darmstadt, 1990, Darmstadt, nos. 31 and 32, ill.) comparable in the handling with the combined use of wash and hatchings to create areas of shadow.
The rare subject of Saint Francis cutting Saint Clare’s hair at the altar, before she founded the Order of the Poor Clares, is also treated in a 16th Century Italian drawing in the British Museum, London (inv. 1946,0713.1538). Her saintly attribute, the monstrance, is shown prominently on the altar in the present drawing.

More from Old Master and British Works on Paper: Drawings, Watercolours and Prints 1500-1900

View All