Attributed to Cesare Rossetti

The double-numbering collector (his inscription in pen and brown ink: 142.cento.quarantadue);
bears unidentified collector's mark with initials: AS cut from the old mount and pasted on the new backing;
sale, London, Christie's, 7 April 1981, lot 59 (as Florentine School, circa 1520), purchased by Ralph Holland

 

Newcastle, 1982, no. 26 (as Attributed to Fabrizio Santafede)

Hinged in a few places around the edges. Generally in good condition, colours fresh. Paper slightly buckled at the top and bottom margins. A few creases or paper defects at the top and bottom and one paper defect over the figures to the right . Tip at the top right corner made up.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is by the same hand as a drawing in the British Museum, Christ at the Column, which was formerly attributed to Giovanni Baglione but subsequently catalogued by Turner as attributed to Cesare Rossetti.¹  Another in the British Museum, attributed to Rossetti by Gere and Pouncey, is also stylistically close to the Holland drawing, although it is executed in red and black chalk.²  Ralph Holland in 1982, compared it stylistically with a study for a St. Andrew, bearing a traditional attribution to the Neapolitan artist Santafede, now in the Metropolitan Museum.³ 

Rossetti, probably born around 1565, according to Baglione started his career in the pontificate of Sixtus V (1585-90).  These drawings show the influence of Cavalier d'Arpino.  Gere and Pouncey mention two scenes of martyrdom by Rossetti in the chapel of St. Barbara in S. Maria in Traspontina, Rome, perhaps based on designs by Arpino, and Rossetti also executed mosaics after Arpino's designs in the Vatican.⁴ 

1.  N. Turner, Italian Drawings in the ...British Museum, Roman Baroque Drawings, c. 1620 to c. 1700, London 1999, vol. I, p. 229, no. 363, reproduced vol. II, pl. 363
2.  J.A. Gere and P. Pouncey, Italian Drawings in the ...British Museum, Artists working in Rome, c. 1550 to c. 1640, London 1983, vol. I, p. 160, no. 260, reproduced vol. II, pl. 247
3. J. Bean, 17th Century Italian Drawings, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1979, p. 264, no. 348, reproduced
4.  J.A. Gere and P. Pouncey, loc.cit., p. 160