From Taddeo to Tiepolo: The Dr. John O’Brien Collection of Old Master Drawings

Donato Creti

The sleeping Endymion

Auction Closed

January 27, 09:35 PM GMT

Estimate

10,000 - 15,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Donato Creti

Cremona 1671 - 1749 Bologna

The sleeping Endymion

Pen and brown ink

426 by 298 mm; 16 7/8 by 11 3/4 in

Charles Rogers (1711-1784), London (L.625);
Germain Seligman (1893-1978), Paris and New York (L.3863);
with Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, catalogues, 1969 and 1970
where acquired, 1972

M. Riccòmini, Donato Creti, Le Opere su carta, Catalogo Ragionato, Turin 2012, p. 67, cat. no. 81.3, reproduced fig. 81.3

Elegantly finished drawings of this type, depicting figures in landscapes, are characteristic of Donato Creti's pen style. Although they can occasionally be related to paintings, most seem to have been executed as independent works of art. Many of these decorative pastorals also have literary or allegorical meanings or associations.

Marco Riccòmini remarks that this drawing reflects Creti's mature style and belongs to the artist's series of Arcadian landscapes.