Items Similar to The Assumption of the Virgin
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 2
Giovanni Battista PaggiThe Assumption of the Virgin
About the Item
Provenance:
Unidentified collector’s mark “D.G.R,” lower right (Lugt 757b)
Wilhelm Suida (1877–1959), New York; by descent to:
Robert L. and Bertina Suida Manning, New York, until 1996
Private Collection, USA
This impressive drawing of the Assumption of the Virgin is the work of the Genoese artist Giovanni Battista Paggi. The son of a nobleman, Paggi received a humanist education and was a self-taught artist. According to Paggi’s first biographer, Raffaele Soprani, it was only after encountering Luca Cambiaso and being praised by him that Paggi decided to pursue a career as a painter, against the wishes of his father. Paggi was banished from Genoa in 1581 after murdering a patron who had refused to pay for one of his works. He took refuge in Florence under the protection of Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, remaining there until 1599. In Florence, he worked out of a studio in a house owned by Federico Zuccaro and was a member of the Accademia Fiorentina del Disegno beginning in 1586. He undertook numerous commissions in Tuscany during this period, supplying altarpieces for churches in San Gimignano, Pistoia, Lucca, and other minor cities.
This Assumption of the Virgin is a characteristic work by Paggi, whose complex compositional arrangements were frequently divided across several levels. Here, the Virgin is framed by the cloud supported by putti that encircles her. Below, the apostles are arranged in a circle around her open tomb, gazing upward with expressions of amazement as she ascends towards heaven. The significance of this moment is expressed through the emphatic gestures of the figures, including the outstretched arm and upturned palm of the Virgin, the hands clasped in prayer of the angel to her right, and the various gesticulations of the apostles.
One of the most striking details of the drawing is the arrangement of the apostles in the foreground, who, facing away from the viewer, obscure a complete view of the tomb and draw our attention to the Virgin. Paggi has masterfully captured the confusion and wonder of the apostles through the angular lines of the drapery, rendered with quick, nervous strokes of the pen. The liberal application of the wash in the lower half of the composition and its restrained use above is particularly skillful, allowing the white of the paper to highlight the upper portion of the drawing and express the radiance of the light concentrated on the Virgin.
The drawing dates from the latter part of Paggi’s stay in Florence, when he was most frequently engaged as a painter of church decorations. Paggi completed two altarpieces depicting the Assumption of the Virgin during his Florentine period—one for the chapel to the left of the high altar in the cathedral of Pistoia (1593–1594) and another for the church of Nostra Signora del Carmine in Genova (1596), which he presumably painted in Florence and shipped back to his native city.1 Although the present drawing does not correspond exactly to the final composition of either of these paintings, the stylistic relation is apparent especially with the version in Pistoia, for which it might be a preliminary design.
- Creator:Giovanni Battista Paggi (1554 - 1627)
- Dimensions:Height: 13.375 in (33.98 cm)Width: 9.125 in (23.18 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1029077832
About the Seller
5.0
Recognized Seller
These prestigious sellers are industry leaders and represent the highest echelon for item quality and design.
Established in 1997
1stDibs seller since 2012
20 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 20 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: New York, NY
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllThe Flight into Egypt
Located in New York, NY
Inscribed: 3. una Madonna che va in Egitto, verso, and Madonna che va in Egitto, recto
Provenance:
Private Collection, UK, since 1999
This expressive and boldly executed drawing is the work of Luca...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Chalk, Ink, Pen, Paper
Study after Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment”
By Michelangelo Buonarroti
Located in New York, NY
Italian School, 16th Century
Provenance:
Private Collection, New York
This intriguing drawing is a study by an anonymous 16th-century Italian artist after a vignette in Michelangelo’s fresco of The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel. The altar wall of the Sistine Chapel was already richly decorated when Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint his Last Judgment...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Gouache
Raphael’s Skull
Located in New York, NY
Provenance:
Ettore Calzone Collection, Rome, by 1912.
Exhibited:
“Raffaello: L’Accademia di San Luca e il mito dell’Urbinate,” Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Rome, 21 October 2020...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil, Paper
Orpheus and the Animals, A Study after an Ancient Bas-Relief
Located in New York, NY
Inscribed “55” and “218” in the lower right
Watermark: Heawood 1351
Laid down on historic Cassiano Del Pozzo mount
(Mount Type A, 531 x 402 mm)
Provenance:
Commissioned by Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588–1637) for his Museo Cartaceo (Paper Museum) and kept in the library of his palazzo, via dei Chiavari, Rome
Transferred with the entire dal Pozzo collection by fidecommesso to his younger brother, Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo (1606–1689); by descent to his second son:
Gabriele dal Pozzo (d. 1695); by descent to his wife:
Anna Teresa Benzoni and after her remarriage in 1697, the Marchesa Lancellotti de’ Ginnetti (d. 1736); by descent to their son:
Cosimo Antonio dal Pozzo (d. 1740); by whom sold with the Dal Pozzo library in 1703 to:
Pope Clement XI for the Vatican Library; by whom transferred as part of the Museo Cartaceo in January 1714 to his nephew:
Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1692–1779), Palazzo ‘alle Quattro Fontane’ in Rome; by whom sold in 1762 to:
James Adam, agent for the British Royal Librarian Richard Dalton (1715–1791)
King George III of England, Buckingham House
Among the sheets of the ‘Museo Cartaceo’ appropriated by Richard Dalton during a reorganization of the drawings, circa 1786-1788; his estate sale, Greenwood’s, London, 11-19 May 1791; where acquired by:
John MacGowan...
Category
16th Century Baroque Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Ink, Pen
Manhattan Arch
Located in New York, NY
Anthony Baus is an alumnus and instructor of the Grand Central Atelier in Long Island City, New York. His unique artistic vision, which mines the world of the Old Masters and antiqui...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Figurative Drawings and W...
Materials
Ink, Pen, Paper
Skateboarder
Located in New York, NY
Anthony Baus is an alumnus and instructor of the Grand Central Atelier in Long Island City, New York. His unique artistic vision, which mines the world of the Old Masters and antiqui...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Figurative Drawings and W...
Materials
Ink, Pen, Paper
You May Also Like
Silvio and Dorinda, a drawing by Leonaert Bramer, Vermeer's first master
Located in PARIS, FR
This finely executed drawing in pen and wash is typical of the work of Leonaert Bramer, one of the most fascinating yet little-known artists of 17th-century Holland.
In a nocturnal ...
Category
1650s Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Gouache, Laid Paper, Pen
Mythological combat scene with Roman soldiers on horseback.
By Virgil Solis
Located in Middletown, NY
Pen and brownish black ink on grayish-cream laid paper, 6 1/2 x 8 inches (165 x 175 mm), irregular hexagonal sheet with margins. Some archival repairs along the top sheet edge, scatt...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Laid Paper, Pen
16th Century by Andrea Boscoli The payment of the duty Pen and ink on paper
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Andrea Boscoli (Florence, Italy, 1564 – Rome, Italy, 1608)
Title: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘰 𝘥𝘢 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘰
Medium: Pen and brow...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Ink, Cardboard, Pen
Eighteenth century Old Master drawing - St Jerome
By John Hamilton Mortimer
Located in London, GB
Pen, ink and wash
Framed dimensions: 9 ½ x 11 ¼ inches
Drawn c. 1763
This small, powerful study shows St Jerome contemplating the bible with a cross and sk...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Pen
The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, a preparatory drawing by Alessandro Casolani
Located in PARIS, FR
This powerful pen and brown ink wash drawing is a study for an altarpiece depicting The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew. Signed and dated 1604, it was painted at the end of his life b...
Category
Early 1600s Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Pen
Eighteenth century Old Master drawing - Apollo destroying Niobe's children
By John Hamilton Mortimer
Located in London, GB
Pen, ink and wash
Framed dimensions: 13 x 11 ¼ inches
Drawn c.1765
Verso: a study of a hanged man
Mortimer has filled this small sheet with action, depicting in the top right, Apollo and Artemis...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Pen
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Apostles Painting
Old Master Drawing 16th
Putti Drawing
Robert Wilhelm
Prayer Altar
Florentine Man
16th Century Putti
Grand Duke Of Tuscany
Angel Of The First Heaven
Assumption Of The Virgin
San Gimignano
Luca Cambiaso
Old Etchings
Naples Art
Oil Paintings By A North
Oil Painting On Canvas Board
The Two Paths
Large Etchings