GIACINTO BRANDI | HEAD OF A BEARDED MAN, WITH COMPOSITIONAL STUDIES EN GRISAILLE

Königlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Dresden, by 1743 and until 1924 (inv. no. 1054);

Ceded to the former Royal family of Wettin July 21,1924 by the Free State of Saxony (as Dutch School, 17th Century);

Thence by descent;

Acquired by the present collector, circa 1990-2000. 

Dresden Inventory, 1754, II 308 (as "van Bock");

W. Hoffman, Catalogue of the Royal Picture Gallery in Dresden, 1887, p. 121, cat. no. 1054 (as anonymous Flemish School, 17th Century);

K. Woermann, Katalog der Koeniglichen Gemaeldegalerie zu Dresden, 5^th edition, Dresden 1902, p. 342, cat. no. 1054 (as Anonymous Dutch School, 17th century, and as having been acquired in Paris in 1743);

H. Posse, Katalog der Staatlichen Gemälde-Galerie zu Dresden, Dresden 1920, p. 117 (as anonymous Dutch School, 17th Century).

This painting, which for nearly two centuries held an anonymous attribution to a 17th century Northern hand, has recently been restored to the corpus of Giacinto Brandi, a 17th century Italian artist active primarily in Rome and Naples. It hung for much of its early life in the Königlichen Gemäldegalerie in Dresden (inv. no. 1054), until it was ceded by the Free State of Saxony in July 1924 to the former Royal family of Wettin. 

We are grateful to Dr. Francesco Petrucci and to Dr. Guendalina Serafinelli for independently endorsing the attribution to Giacinto Brandi from digital photographs.