Offered by Galerie TELESIO
REQUEST INFORMATION
Study for a Saint Paul
Pen in bistre ink over black stone sketch recto
Sketch for a faun and framing tests for a composition, pen and brown ink verso
170 x 95 mm
On his trip to Andalusia between 1835 and 1837, Baron Taylor brought back 22 paintings, considered at the time to be by Alonso Cano, to help enrich King Louis-Philippe's Spanish Gallery. The attributions were subsequently reconsidered, with the exception of two large canvases, a Saint Peter now at Lancing College in Sussex and a Saint Paul acquired by the Gemälgalerie in Dresden following the sale of Louis-Philippe's collection.
Our drawing prepares the way for this masterly painting of the saint leaning on the instrument of his torture. Our drawing, detached from the conventions imposed by the commissioners, may surprise you with the liveliness of expression expressed by the inflection of the mouth and the distraught look on the saint's face. This drawing testifies to the strong personality of Cano, who can be considered the most important Spanish draftsman of his time.
Our unpublished sheet is similar to several of Cano's other drawings, including the one in the Juan Abelo colllection, the Sacrifice of Abel, as well as the one in the Prado, the Sacrifice of Isaac and Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Peter, which were executed between 1640 and 1650. The Dresden painting is thought to date from the same period.
Bibliography
Zahira Veliz, Alonso Cano, Dibujos, catalogo razonado Santander, Fundacion Botin, 2011, p. 156-157- p.158-161, and p.296-297.
Provenance: Florence, private collection
