Giuseppe Cesari, called Il Cavalier d'Arpino

Timothy Clifford (according to Godfrey Barker's introduction to the Clifford sale, London, Sothebys, 7 July 1989); 
sale, London, Christie's, 2 June 1970, lot 196 (as Morazzone), bought by A. Mathews,
with Alister Mathews, Bournemouth, catalogue 76, Autumn 1970, no. 19 (as Morazzone), from whom purchased by Ralph Holland

Newcastle, 1982, no. 38, reproduced pl. VIII A

H. Röttgen, Il Cavalier d'Arpino, exhib. cat., Rome, Palazzo Venezia, 1973, p. 23, reproduced fig. 4;
idem., Il Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d' Arpino, un grande pittore nello splendore della fama nell'incostanza della fortuna, Rome 2002, p. 13, reproduced p. 14, fig. 7;
idem., Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d'Arpino. I Disegni. Inizi e maestria precoce 1583-1592, Stuttgart 2012;
M.S. Bolzoni, ll Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d'Arpino, Maestro del disegno, Rome 2013, p. 434, R. 94 (as a Lombard artist close to Morazzone)

Laid down. A small loss at the bottom margin at the center, due to silver fish. The paper slightly buckled at the edges . Some staining very light brown to the right of the sheet above the dragon. A trace of an old fold running vertically to the far left. The color fresh and paper still light blue
"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."

The drawing had a traditional attribution to Cavalier d'Arpino on the old mount, now pasted onto the new one.  Röttgen published it in 1973 as a preparatory drawing for Arpino's painting of the subject in San Silvestro al Quirinale, which was an early work (1594) on the inner façade of the church, but which was destroyed with the demolition of the façade in 1877, when the street was enlarged.  Ralph Holland pointed out, in his catalogue of 1982, the existence of a minute representation of the fresco, which corresponds compositionally with the present drawing, in a woodcut view of the church in Felini's Trattato Nuovo...Dell'alma Città Di Roma.  The painting is recorded by the biographer Giovanni Baglione who wrote: 'In S. Salvestro a Monte Cavallo nel mezo del frontispitio su la porta di dentro fece S. Salvestro a sedere in atto di benedire'. 

Marco Simone Bolzoni has instead suggested, on stylistic grounds, that this drawing could be the work of a Lombard artist and that it is reminiscent of the style of Morazzone, to whom the drawing was attributed in the Christie's sale in 1970.  Morazzone was in Rome from 1592 to 1598 and is traditionally thought to have been taught there by the Sienese Ventura Salimbeni, whose stylistic influence is very evident in Morazzone's early drawings.  As noted by Nicholas Turner¹, Padre Resta claimed that Morazzone was a pupil of Cavalier d'Arpino.  The influential figure of Arpino could have not have been ignored by the young Morazzone who might have collaborated with him.   From his known early drawings, Morazzone's style appears closer to Salimbeni's, with whom they have been confused in the past.²  Looking at the style of the Holland sheet, although the technique of the drawing is indeed reminiscent of Morazzone, the light outlines in black chalk, and especially the facial features of the Pope with his pointed nose and the very elongated fingers of his right hand are extremely close to some of Arpino's early drawings.  It can be compared, for instance, with two pen and ink drawings in private collections: St. Luke and a Study of two monks.³   It is plausible that this sheet predates the work of Arpino in the church of San Silvestro, and that it dates from the second half of the 1580s or the beginning of the 1590s.  It is possible that Arpino reused the same image of St. Sylvester a few years later in his career. 

1.  N. Turner, 'Some unpublished drawings by Morazzone,' Master Drawings, XXII, no. 4, 1984, p. 426
2.  Ibid., p. 428
3.  M.S. Bolzoni, op. cit., pp. 182-183, nos. 24-25, reproduced