Bernardo Strozzi

From the Sagredo album (with numbering, see above), the provenance of which is as follows:
Doge Nicolò Sagredo, Venice, by circa 1654;
his brother, Stefano Sagredo, Venice;
his nephew, Zaccaria Sagredo, Venice;
his wife, Cecilia Sagredo, until sold, circa 1743;
Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736-1810);
thence by descent until sale, Lyon, 1919;
Private Collection, Germany

Unframed. Laid down on old backing sheet. The paper may have been trimmed slightly, but is in very good condition- the chalk still strong.
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The head in this sheet of studies appears to be preparatory for that of the angel in Strozzi's painting The Healing of Tobit, in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg (fig. 1).  The hand to the right of the sheet is close to the left hand of Tobias, which in the painting holds the platter bearing the curative ointment for his father's blindness.  The hand to the left of the drawing may be a first thought for the hand of Tobit's wife, Anna.¹

The painting has been dated to circa 1632, not long after the artist's arrival in Venice.  Four other workshop versions of the composition are known, in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, the Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, and the church of S. Zaccaria and the Italico Brass Collection, both in Venice.

The verso of the drawing bears the numbering of the Sagredo album, which is also found on a group of drawings traditionally attributed to Strozzi in the Louvre.²  Professor Camillo Manzitti recently clarified the authorship of the drawings, noting that the majority of the group should be given to Strozzi's workshop assistant, Ermanno Stroiffi.³  However, Professor Manzitti has confimed the attribution of the present sheet to Strozzi, noting that it is one of the small number of Sagredo drawings which can be securely given to the master.

1. See L. Mortari, Bernardo Strozzi, Rome 1995, p. 178, cat. no. 437
2. See E. Gavazza et al., Bernardo Strozzi, exhib. cat., Genoa, Palazzo Ducale, 1995, cat. nos. 104-111
3. For further information, see C. Manzitti, 'Gioacchino Assereto. Tangenze giovanili con Bernardo Strozzi e nuove testimonianze figurative', Paragone, vol. 61, 2005, pp. 27-46, note 17