- 23
Pietro Berrettini, called Pietro da Cortona
Description
- Pietro Berrettini, called Pietro da Cortona
- A young man holding a dish seen in profile
- Black chalk with some touches of white chalk;
bears old attribution in pen and brown ink: P. da Corton
Provenance
his sale, London, Sotheby's, Fine Italian and French Drawings from the Collection of the Late Mr. C.R. Rudolf, 4 July 1977, lot 116
Exhibited
Condition
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
In the present work, the three-quarter-length figure occupies the entirety of the sheet, conveying a certain monumentality and a three dimensional quality that can be seen in other drawings dating from the 1650s. See for example another study in the Louvre for a seated female figure which, according to Jörg Martin Merz, could be a first idea for the figure of Sta. Martina in Cortona’s fresco decoration in the choir of the Chiesa Nuova, Rome (1655-1659).3
Dr. Merz has kindly informed us that judging from an image, the old attribution seems convincing.
1. The painting was in the Barberini collection until 1934. It was sold during the Second World War to Hitler, and it is now lost. See G. Briganti, Pietro da Cortona, Florence 1962, pp. 254-255, reproduced fig. 265
2. Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. nos. 540 and 546; see B. Gady, Pietro da Cortona, Milan 2011, p. 75, nos. 37, 38, reproduced figs. 37, 38
3. Paris, Musée du Louvre inv. no. 533; see Gady, op. cit., pp. 73-74, fig. 33