A young model, probably a studio assistant, posed for Annibale Carracci in this study of an angel-- the wings are only lightly indicated above his shoulders, almost as an afterthought. The angel's figure appears on the right in Annibale's altarpiece Saint Gregory Praying for the Souls in Purgatory, commissioned by Cardinal Antonio Maria Salviati about 1600-1602. The altarpiece, painted for a chapel in the church of San Gregorio Magno, Rome, was destroyed during World War II when it was in the collection at Bridgewater House, London. There are only minor changes in the configuration of the angel's draperies in the final painting. Figural studies done with chalk by the artist dating after 1600 are rare: two composition studies for the same altarpiece are preserved at Chatsworth and at Windsor Castle. while a third drawing with studies of the standing angel's head and left arm is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts at Dijon (se here "references" and McTavish 1975).
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Medium:Charcoal or soft black chalk, highlighted with white chalk, on blue paper; several scattered stains of rose-colored paint at lower left (recto); black chalk with some white chalk highlights (verso)
Dimensions:Sheet: 14 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (36.9 x 24.8 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Pfeiffer Fund, 1962
Object Number:62.120.1
Inscription: The recto is annotated by an early hand, at bottom right, in pen and brown ink with the pagination of one of the Angeloni-Mignard-Crozat albums of Carracci drawings: "8".
Possibly Francesco Angeloni (Italian); Sir Peter Lely (Pieter van der Faes) (Dutch, British); possibly acquired by Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke (British), and then by descendent; Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke (British), by 1772; Sotheby's, London, Pembroke sale, July 5–6, 9–10, 1917, no. 376
Morgan Library & Museum, New York. "Drawings from New York Collections, II. The Seventeenth Century in Italy," February 23, 1967–April 22, 1967.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints by the Carracci," April 24–July 1, 1973.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Roman Artists of the 17th Century: Drawings and Prints (Athens and New York)," November 2, 1976–January 16, 1977.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," February 26–May 5, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 5, 1997–March 8, 1998.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "The Drawings of Annibale Carracci," September 26, 1999–January 9, 2000.
Chiostro del Bramante, Rome. "Annibale Carracci," January 23, 2007–May 6, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," July 13–October 4, 2009.
Ralph Holland, London The Carracci, Drawings and Prints. Exhibition Catalogue: The Hatton Gallery. Newcastle upon Tyne, 1961.
Michael Jaffé "The Carracci at Newcastle." in Burlington Magazine. vol. 104, London, January 1962.
Jacob Bean "Form and Function in Italian Drawings: Observations on Several New Acquisitions." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 21, no. 7, New York, March 1963.
Jacob Bean 100 European Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: New York Graphic Society, 1964.
Jacob Bean, Felice Stampfle Drawings from New York Collections, Vol. II: The Seventeenth Century in Italy. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Morgan Library & Museum, New York, 1967.
J. T. Butler "The Seventeenth Century in Italy: Review of Exhibition; Drawings from New York Collections, vol. 2." The Connoisseur. vol. 166, no. 667, New York, September, 1967.
Jacob Bean Drawings and Prints by the Carracci. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (April 24-July 1, 1973). New York, 1973.
David McTavish "Another Drawing by Annibale Carracci in Dijon." Master Drawings. vol. 13, no. 4, 1975.
Jacob Bean (but catalogue not signed), The Metropolitan Museum of Art Roman Artists of the 17th Century: Drawings and Prints. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1976.
Jacob Bean, Lawrence Turčić 17th century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1979.
Daniele Benati , ed. Disegni emiliani del Sei-Settecento. Quadri da Stanza e da altare.. Milan, 1991, (text by Alessandro Brogi).
Simonetta Prosperi Valenti Rodinò "Santacroce, Angeloni, Marino et Bellori." Le dessin: Les grands collectionneurs. Turin, 1992.
Daniele Benati, Diane De Grazia, Gail Feigenbaum et. al. The Drawings of Annibale Carracci Exh. cat., The National Gallery of Art. Washington D.C., 1999, (entry by Margaret Morgan Grasselli).
Ann Sutherland Harris "Annibale's Legacy: Proposals for Giovanni Angelo Canini and Antonio Carracci." Master Drawings. Vol. 43, no. 4, 2005.
Daniele Benati, Daniele Benati, Eugenio Riccòmini, Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna Annibale Carracci. Electa, Milan, 2006, (entry by Alessandro Brogi).
Assistant Curator Allison Rudnick presents the next eight artworks that will be on view in The Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery to celebrate the collection of the Department of Drawings and Prints.
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