Attributed to Pablo de Céspedes

Thomas Dimsdale (according to pencil note on mount);
Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2445, worked over in ink, with added ink circle around);
Purchased from Meatyard, 25 May 1922

London, Royal Academy, Old Master Drawings, 1958, no. 493 (as Céspedes);
London, Royal Academy, The Paul Oppé Collection, 1958, no. 418 (as Céspedes);
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Exhibition of Works from the Paul Oppé Collection, 1961, no. 115 (as Céspedes)

J. Gere, 'A Drawing by Matteo Perez da Leccio,' Master Drawings, vol. 11, no. 2 (1973), p. 152, pl. 17 (as Roman School, ca. 1570-80, possibly by Matteo Perez da Leccio);
D. Angulo and A.E. Perez Sanchez, A Corpus of Spanish Drawings, 1400-1600, vol. 1, London 1975, p. 38 (attribution to Céspedes rejected)

Laid down on paper and partially hinged to the upper left and upper edge to an old sheet. There is an old horizontal crease which runs across the centre of the sheet and a number of old nicks and creases to the four edges. There is an old pin prick hole to the upper right corner and another small hole to the upper right edge. There is evidence of some light abrasions to the right edge and the white heightening shows some signs of oxidation in places. There are four small repaired tears to the lower edge. The paper itself has very fractionally discolored and there are signs of surface dirt and some minor stains throughout. The medium itself remains reasonably strong and fresh throughout this highly impressive sheet.
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This monumental drawing must surely be by a 16th-century Spanish artist who worked in Italy, and the old attribution on the verso, though not accepted by Perez Sanchez, should not, perhaps, be totally discarded.  In fact, Perez Sanchez only accepted three drawings as autograph works by Céspedes, one of which was destroyed in the Spanish Civil War, so as Mark McDonald noted in the recent British Museum exhibition catalogue, we have no real evidence on which to base an image of the artist's drawing style.¹

Céspedes spent many years in Rome, circa 1559-1577, and was there again around 1583-85.  He is thought to have worked alongside the Zuccari, and his few surviving paintings, which include frescoes in Santa Trinità dei Monti, Rome, and an altarpiece of the Last Supper, in Córdoba Cathedral, give an image of an interesting artistic personality, who combined the influences of his Spanish origins and Roman experiences into a very personal, Mannerist style.

John Gere tentatively suggested an alternative attribution to Mateo Perez da Leccio, a Roman artist who worked for some years in Spain before leaving for South America. 

Amusingly, Paul Oppé's diary entry for 25 May 1922 notes that this and the other drawings that he bought the same day from Meatyard were "ugly but valuable".

^1.  M.P. McDonald, Renaissance to Goya. Prints and Drawings from Spain, London, British Museum, 2012-13, pp. 125-6