Alessandro Casolani

Estimate

1,500 - 2,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Alessandro Casolani
Portrait of a young man wearing a hat, possibly a Self-Portrait
Black and red chalk within pen and brown ink framing lines;
bears two faint inscriptions in pen and brown ink at the lower margin, recto, both indecipherable, and bears two other inscriptions in pen and brown ink, verso: Lud Carracci and ....cco (?) Carace

Provenance

Van Regteren Altena Collection (according to label on an old mount, no longer with the drawing);
sale, London, Sotheby's, 15 November 1961, part of lot 260 (as Federico Zuccaro, Portrait of Annibale Carracci), purchased by Ralph Holland

Condition

Window mounted. There is light staining around the margins and a few tiny fox marks, barely visible. The inscriptions on the recto appear to have been water stained as they are now barely legible. The chalk remains fairly strong and the overall image still fresh.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Alessandro Bagnoli discusses, in his short essay on Casolani's drawings, how the artist 'creates a sense of light by relying solely on the contrast between the drawn and blank areas, as can be seen in his pencil drawings in which he uses meticulous parallel lines in the tradition of the Tuscan and Roman masters of the earlier 1500s.'¹ This technique has been employed in the present sketch where both red and black chalk vertical lines contrast with the tone of the paper. Casolani also achieves a softness in his application of chalk, with an almost sfumato effect. Stylistically this portrait can be compared with another drawing, his study for Salome Showing Herod the Head of St. John the Baptist.²

It is possible that the present portrait is in fact a self-portrait, as the features do bear a strong resemblance to Bernardino Capitelli's etching of a rather older Alessandro Casolani (fig. 1).³

1. Il Piacere Del Colorire, Artistic Itinerary of Alessandro Casolani 1552/53-1607, exhib. cat., Casole d'Elsa, Museo Archeologico e della Collegiata, 2002, pp. 37-38

2. Marco Ciampolini, Drawing in Reniassance and Baroque Siena: 16th and 17th Century Drawings from Sienese Collections, exhib.cat., Athens, Georgia Museum of Art, 2002, Florida, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art and Siena, Magazzini del Sale, Palazzo Pubblico, 2003, p. 91, fig. 2 (Biblioteca Comunale, Siena, S III.5., fol. 115r)

3. Exhib.cat., Casole d'Elsa, op.cit., p. 11, reproduced