Old Master Drawings

Old Master Drawings

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 60. Head of a man wearing a cap and a fur trimmed coat, seen in profile, looking to the left.

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta

Head of a man wearing a cap and a fur trimmed coat, seen in profile, looking to the left

Auction Closed

January 27, 05:29 PM GMT

Estimate

15,000 - 20,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta

Venice 1682 - 1754

Head of a man wearing a cap and a fur trimmed coat, seen in profile, looking to the left


Black chalk, heightened with white, on blue paper;

bears signature in pen and brown ink, lower right: Piazetta

370 by 267 mm; 14 ½ by 10 ½ in

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta established his international reputation as a talented draftsman very early in his career. Though known as a slow painter, he was able to draw quickly enough to produce large finished head studies, known as têtes de caractère, which were very much in demand from collectors and connoisseurs. These captivating and beautiful drawings of heads and half figures were intended as works of art in their own right to be framed and displayed on walls alongside painted compositions. Most were executed in black and white chalk on blue paper. The popularity of Piazzetta's head studies grew when his work attracted the attention of engravers.


We are grateful to Bernard Aikema, who, from seeing a digital image of the drawing, has kindly confirmed the attribution to Piazzetta.