Francesco Fontebasso

Study of Heads

Auction Closed

January 26, 04:31 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property from the Collection formed by the Duc de Talleyrand

Francesco Fontebasso

Venice 1707 - 1769

Study of Heads

Black chalk on gray paper;

bears three sets of numbers and inscription, verso: 2857/81183/416/Bolognese ?

137 by 167 mm; 5⅜ by 6½in.

Marie-Pierre-Louis Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Talleyrand (1859-1937), Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt;
from whose heirs acquired by the British Rail Pension Fund;
with Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox Ltd, London,
from whom acquired in December 1993 by Patrick and Mavis Walker, London

A. Morassi, Dessins Vénitiens du Dix-huitième Siècle de la Collection du Duc de Talleyrand, Milan 1958, no. 48, reproduced;
M. Magrini, 'Francesco Fontebasso - I Disegni', Saggi e Memorie di Storia dell' Arte, vol. 17, 1990, no. 52, reproduced p. 345, fig. 30

This attractive assembly of head studies is thought to possibly relate to a painting depicting, The Woman taken in Adultery, suggested by both Morassi in 1958 and by Magrini in 1990 (see Literature), or to a Rebecca, as proffered by Magrini. Both scholars also point out stylistic similarities with Sebastiano Ricci's work.

The drawing's aesthetic mise en page and the fact that 'head studies' were extremely popular during the eighteenth century may indicate that this drawing was made as a work of art in its own right, rather than as a preparatory study.

The young woman's head, seen here in profile on the left, also appears on the recto of another drawing by Fontebasso that appeared on the art market in Paris in 2002.¹

^1. Sale. Paris, Christie's, 27 November 2002, lot 95