GIOVANNI LANFRANCO | THE HEAD OF A MAN

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), London (L.2364);

sale, New York, Christie's, 30 January 1998, lot 73

One of the most arresting of all Giovanni Lanfranco's drawings, this striking head study cannot be connected with any of his known commissions, but none the less illustrates how the artist used such a working drawing during the preliminary stages of a project. The incised outlines and black chalk squaring both indicate that the drawing was used in the transfer process, as a cartoon, providing fascinating insight into Lanfranco's working methods. The appeal of the sheet also lies in the combination of black chalk on blue paper, a pairing that the artist used to great effect throughout his career. Lanfranco has rendered this head study with the sensitivity of a portrait drawn from life, which it very probably was, given the careful scrutiny of the features and the intensity of the sitter's sideward gaze. The intimacy of the image is further emphasised by the soft application of the chalk and delicate shading in certain areas of the face.

At the time of the 1998 sale, Dr. Erich Schleier and Dr Ann Sutherland Harris both confirmed the attribution to Lanfranco, the former in a letter dated 18 November 1997, and the latter in a letter dated 30 November 1997. Dr Sutherland Harris proposed a dating to late in the artist's career.