Old Master and British Works on Paper

Guido Reni

Study for the Head of the Virgin

Lot Closed

January 26, 08:24 PM GMT

Estimate

2,000 - 3,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Guido Reni

Calvenzano di Vergato 1575 - 1642 Bologna

Study for the Head of the Virgin

Black chalk with touches of red chalk, reworked by a later hand around the mouth and neck with brown ink

366 by 230 mm; 14½ by 9 in.

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), London (L.2364),
probably his sale, London, Christie's, 18 May 1821, lot 56;
John Fitchett Marsh (1818-1880), Warrington, U.K. (L.1455)

Though the present work cannot be securely connected to a surviving painting by Reni, the manner in which it is drawn is highly characteristic of the artist.

It seems likely that this drawing was intended as a study for the head of the Virgin and the facial type and pose of the head certainly compares favorably to that of the Virgin in Claude Vignon's etching, after Reni, depicting St. Dominic praying to the Virgin and Child, an impression of which is in the British Museum, London.¹

^1. London, British Museum, inv. no. U,3.180