Francesco Montelatici, called Cecco Bravo

R. Holford;
Dr. Max Goldstein;
Janos Scholz;
wirh P. and D. Colnaghi, London, Old Master Drawings, 1970, no. 23;
sale, London, Christie's, 8 April 1986, lot 60;
with Kate Ganz, Ltd., London, Italian Drawings 1500-1800, 1987, no. 16, reproduced

Oakland, Mills College Art Gallery and Berkeley, University of California, University Art Gallery, Drawings from Tuscany and Umbria, 1350-1700, 1961;
Edinburgh, The Merchants' Hall, Italian 17th Century Drawings from British Private Collections, 1972, no. 84, reproduced p. 104

Window mounted. The lower right corner has been made up. The red chalk remains vibrant and strong. There is an area in the centre of the sheet below the Angel's arm where the paper has thinned and on the verso it appears to have been stablised to reduce the risk of a tear/crack. There is a vertical paper crease running alongside the left margin. There is some surface dirt but otherwise in good condition. Sold in a simple gilded frame
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.
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An unusually large number of studies of male nudes by Cecco Bravo has survived, in black chalk, in red chalk sometimes heightened with white, and in the combination of red and black chalk which the artist used to such effect in his compositional drawings.  There are two major holdings of these academies: the National Gallery of Scotland and the Uffizi.  The present study accords well with those examples, both in technique and in the presence of the numbering, but the size of the sheet is somewhat smaller (the others tend to be circa 400 by 260 mm).  Many of the nudes have been given wings and are thought to be connected with Cecco's lost fresco of the Fall of the Rebel Angels, painted circa 1648 in SS. Michele e Gaetano, Florence.