Description

This drawing is a study for an angel in a fresco executed in the church of San Giovanni in Laterano, in Rome. Painstakingly modeled with fine lines of black chalk, the dynamic, muscular figure of the angel recalls Michelangelo’s monumental nudes created earlier in the century, while the androgynous features of his face are typical of the elegant style favored in the late 1500s. Considered a child prodigy by his contemporaries, Giuseppe Cesari became the head of the artists’ academy in Rome at the young age of 31. His busy workshop was a training ground for numerous pupils, the most notable of which was perhaps Caravaggio.

Provenance

Possibly Jan Six (1618–1700), Amsterdam; sold, possibly Amsterdam, April 6, 1702, part of lot 3. Lambert Hermansz ten Kate (1674–1731), Amsterdam; sold, Amsterdam, June 16, 1732, album A, no. 8, for 30 guilders to Antoni Rutgers (1695–1778), Amsterdam; sold, Amsterdam, December 1, 1778, album I, no. 521, for 8 guilders to Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726–1798), Amsterdam; sold, Amsterdam, March 3, 1800, album AA, no. 39. Baron Roger Portalis (1841–1912), Paris [Lugt 2232]. Léon Voillemot (1881–1949), Paris [Lugt 789d]. Galerie Pierre Gaubert, Paris, to a private collection, Brussels. With W.M. Brady & Co., New York, by 2006 [Master Drawings 1520-1890, 2006, cat. 8]; sold to Herbert Kasper (1926–2020), New York, 2006; sold by Christies, New York, Oct. 14, 2021, lot 23, to the Art Institute of Chicago.